


Chasing Shadows

by BiFrostedFlake



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-15 16:32:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 72,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9244445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiFrostedFlake/pseuds/BiFrostedFlake
Summary: Loki has escaped his cell in Asgard, now he's on Midgard and his main priority is getting out of the city, getting to freedom, he finds himself a disguise but he is soon caught up with the antics of a super hero and he has to make sure he isn't caught. Eventual FrostIron.Warnings: swearing, graphic violence (blood, gore), graphic sexual content, mentions of abuse, (warnings will appear if applicable on individual chapters if other stuff comes up)Spoilers: MCU Phase One, shades of 616 established canonMainly takes place within the MCU, with 616 canon to cover parts not established within, and a few of my own musings to cover everything else.  I’m working without a beta so spelling and grammar errors are my own, and an apology in advance for anything extremely British coming from an American characters mouth, and any geography errors when it comes to New York, I am using maps and wiki for reference, but never having been to America, I can only use what is available to me online.  I started writing in 2013 and have only just been able to continue thanks to a wonderful person who helped me in a time of great depression.





	1. Chapter 1

** Chapter One **

 

New York.

 

Of course.  It had to be New York.  Of all the places in all of Midgard, he had to materialise in, it had to be New York.  Though when he had been given the brief window of opportunity to escape his cell in Asgard he hadn’t exactly been aiming for any place in particular, and the bracelet still locked around his right hand wrist, carved in runes was still blocking much of his magic, and his ability to teleport. 

 

So of course he had to materialise in the one city he would likely to be recognised instantaneously. 

 

Bollocks.

 

He had to flee the city, he couldn’t spend the entire night hiding in an alley way, waiting for some homeless tramp to discover him.  He had to get outside the limits, he had to get to freedome.  This land was big enough for him to find a Midgardian-less expanse to hide in until he could get the damn bracelet off and get his magic back. 

 

From his hiding place behind a large bin, him a Prince of Asgard hiding behind a rubbish receptacle - the very thought, he could see passers by moving on the street.  Something was wrong however, something was….  different. 

 

Instead of normal - as far as Midgardians were concerned - clothing, he spotted many if not all, sporting some kind of costumes.  Masks, colourful outfits, amongst the throngs he saw more than a few dressed as members of Earth’s finest champions, The Avengers, when he saw one dressed as his brother wearing a long blonde wig and carrying what was obviously a child’s toy hammer, he couldn’t help but snort.

 

He bided his time, waiting for one to pass by who was not only his approximate height, but also masked.  He did not care if the clothing was too large, it would add to the disguise.  After an hour of watching, a painful hour in which water dripped on his hair from an overhanging fire escape, and a few rats had attempted to climb up his trousers, he spotted a suitable man.

 

By pure chance he matched his frame almost perfectly, Loki darted.  His magic may have been bound, but Loki was still quick and agile, he had his hand clamped around the man’s mouth and had him dragged into the alley before he knew what was happening. 

 

A knock to the back of the head and the man was out cold.  It would have been just as easy to kill him, but murders drew a little more attention than simple muggings and Loki needed to lay low. 

 

He stripped him of his outer garments, Loki’s prison clothes weren’t instantly recognisable as Asgardian, a Hessian shirt and cloth trousers that were now grimey and soaked from the alley.  Loki pulled them off his own body and stuffed them deep down inside the bin beside him, then pulled on the strangers clothing.  A pair of thick black trousers with pockets on the thighs, a black undershirt, with a body armour vest Loki added as well since he supposed it went with the costume and he had no idea what the man was dressed as. 

 

Finally the mask, a black cowl nothing fancy, it left the bottom half of his face, below the nose exposed, but covered the rest and his hair was easily tucked beneath.  He discovered the shirt had a hood, so he pulled it up, covering the cowl, adding to the disguise, then he looked down at the man, who had black makeup marks around his eyes.  Loki searched the pockets of the trousers he was now wearing.  He found a wallet, it had a little money inside, not much, but perhaps enough to come in handy should he need it.  A set of keys, to what he had no idea, so feeling like not being a complete bastard he tucked them inside the man’s underwear for him.  Then found a small red handle, which had a set of knives and attachments which folded out - always handy, finally a small black pot.  He unscrewed the lid, it bore a single finger delve, it had obviously been bought for the costume, he swirled his finger on the makeup, then lifting the cowl, did his best to slather it around his eyes before putting the pot back in his pocket.

 

There were no windows in the alley way to glance at his reflection, so taking a breath he stepped out into the street and began blending in with the crowds.  No one noticed him, he was now part of the swarm of people.  Weaving and bobbing between pedestrians Loki could now see that not every Midgardian was dressed in colourful costumes, but the particular alley way he’d been hiding in appeared to be just happened to be nearby some kind of parade or street party. 

 

Damn he needed to find a way out this city and tonight.  Before the end of the costumed parade where he would once again stand out.  He knew from his past time in New York that the city was large, every second he was on foot he felt exposed.

 

He wished he could get the damned bracelet off his wrist.  At least he could access a little of his magic, not enough to disguise his appearance or teleport, but enough to summon perhaps energy knives, maybe enough to save his skin if it was called for. 

 

He saw people heading underground, he followed them.  The underground trains he knew of, but he didn’t know enough about the system to be able to navigate it without help.  There was a ticket booth, a slightly disgruntled looking employee sat behind it, Loki breathed, he really didn’t have much choice in the matter if he wanted to escape. 

 

Despite appearances the operator was surprisingly helpful.  He was presented with two options, take a train north and then disembark and continue heading north by foot, or take a train to the south and head across a bridge to the west.  Loki felt he stood a better chance heading north, so he bought a ticket with some of the money from the man’s wallet and followed the operators directions to the correct platform. 

 

There were fewer costumed people underground, but his apparel didn’t draw stares which was good.  Actually, he reasoned if need be and he got stuck travelling into the next day without acquiring a hiding place, then he could at least ditch the body armour and mask and keep the hood drawn up and he may be ok.  Once he was out of the city of course.

 

The train pulled in, Loki boarded the end carriage, fewer people, easier to avoid unwanted attention from some of the revellers boarding the other carriages who were clearly drunk.

 

Loki found a seat, with a newspaper.  He didn’t have to concentrate on the muffled voice calling out stations, he was riding to the end of the line.  He opened the paper, splashed across it’s pages was a photograph of Tony Stark, falling out of a bar, being supported upright by the monster, or at least the man who became the monster.  The print below spoke of failed relationship and a now constantly drunk Stark who had been seen with more than one Avenger propping him up, dragging him out of bars.  Loki actually relaxed a little, if they were busy dealing with Stark destroying himself, they were not on their toes to be on the look out for a possibly escaped Asgardian, even if Thor would not have had the chance to have even realised he had escaped yet, let alone inform the Avengers to be on the look out for him.

 

He flicked through the articles, somewhere nearby a mother admonished a small child to come closer.  The train jolted violently, Loki looked around, from the panicked look on the other passengers faces this was not a typical part of the journey.  A boy, a teenager stood at the end of the carriage, clinging onto a metal pole, a look of pure fear overcoming his expression as the train threw itself over. 

 

Loki was plunged, glass shattered, bodies were in constant motion around him, the lights went out and he could hear screaming as they were tossed around.  Loki clung to a metal bar, and eventually the movement stopped.  After a minute, an extremely long minute which was filled with screaming and crying, lights flickered on, small spot lights which passengers held in their hands, trying to see around them and assess the situation. 

 

Loki looked around, standing to his feet the best he could.  Their carriage was on its side, looking through the end window he could see it had detached from the rest of the train and _that_ was nowhere in sight, not that they could see very far. 

 

Well this was just fucking perfect.

 

A woman groaned nearby him, then she began to scream, Loki turned his head, seeing her in the dim light cradling the little boy she had admonished earlier.  At first Loki would have sworn she was screaming his own name, but he moved closer and realised she was screaming, “Luke-ee, Luu-kee!”

 

The woman needed to stop screaming, he needed a clear head, he could not afford to be caught up in this nonsense, he needed to escape the city.  He saw blood on her hands, the child was limp.  Loki had a little magic.  Loki needed to save it, just in case.  So why the hell was he moving towards the woman, insisting upon her to let him inspect the child.

 

He cradled the head in his hands, the skull was not broken, but he had hit it hard and there was a gash across his forehead.  Loki instilled a little magic into the child, not enough to heal the cut, but enough to soothe his brain, and to get him to open his eyes, and the mother sobbed with relief, clinging to her son. 

 

“We need to get out of here,” said the teenage boy Loki had seen gripping to a metal pole earlier, “there’s a train due to come from the other way soon, it’ll smack right into us, we need to run on our rail in the direction it’s going to be coming from, so we don’t get hit and we can get help at the last station we passed.”

 

For some reason, everyone seemed to like this plan, and Loki was in no position to argue, he didn’t have one of the hand lights most of the others seemed to own.  He would not be able to find his own way in the darkness in the way he wanted to be heading, and who knew what kind of disaster could lay ahead with the rest of the train. 

 

The boy ushered the passengers out one by one, Loki made sure that the mother and her child got out in front of him to run ahead, he didn’t want her thanking and fawning all over him.  Stupid mistake.  He should have left the child as he was.  Oh well, live and learn.

 

“Come on!” the boy shouted to him, as he jumped out the back of the train, leaving Loki the last to disembark.  They were all running along the tracks, Loki was following the lights, and pounding footsteps.  It wasn’t long before they rounded a corner and ahead Loki could see a lit platform, other passengers starting to climb up, being helped by people standing above them. 

 

Not far left for him to run, 400 feet he reckoned, the teenage boy was at least 40 feet in front of him, he wasn’t sure how they were so far behind the others, maybe it was because neither of them had been carrying hand lights and the others had, and had to be less careful about their footing.  Though Loki looked and saw the boy turn his head towards him several times as they ran, making sure that Loki was keeping up perhaps?

 

The mother and the child had reached the platform, they were being pulled up when suddenly the teenager screamed at Loki “TRAIN!” 

 

And hurtling out of the darkness, directly towards them, was indeed a train.  Loki froze, he actually froze solid.  Normally he would just teleport out of this situation, but that damned bracelet, he looked to his left and to his right, and just in the split seconds he was trying to make his decision, suddenly the teenager was on him.

 

He had moved at a speed which Loki knew, he just _knew_ , was not possibly for humans to move at, even the solider could not move like this.  Loki felt the boys arms wrap around him, and pushed him onto the ground to his right, diving into a recess in the wall which Loki had not seen.  The boy’s body pressed tightly against Loki’s pushing his back against the wall and just as Loki was wondering how the hell the boy was this strong, a train came hurtling past the boys head, loud, unbelievably loud, screeches and hisses as two carriages past them, then eventually the train came to a stop. 

 

Loki breathed, somewhere, probably on the platform someone was screaming, “DID THEY MAKE IT?  DID THEY MAKE IT?” 

 

The boy looked up and shouted at the top of his lungs, “WE’RE OK!  THE TRAIN WILL HAVE TO BACK UP SO WE CAN GET OUT, BUT WE’RE OK!  DON’T LET IT GO FORWARD!”

 

A voice shouted back, “WE KNOW ABOUT THE CRASH, ALL THE LINES ARE BEING SHUT DOWN!  WE’LL GET TO YOU WHEN WE CAN!”

 

The boy then looked at Loki and gave him a wide, cocky grin, “Don’t suppose you brought a crossword to keep us occupied, did you?”

 

Loki grimaced.  Great, he was trapped with a comedian.  “Will you unhand me, boy?”

 

“Hey, dude, it’s the 21st century, not cool to be homophobic,” said the boy with a shrug of his shoulders, “besides I have a train literally two inches from my head, won’t have the space to move my arms until it moves.”

 

“Fantastic,” said Loki.  Literally nothing else could go wrong now.

 

“And it’s not boy,” said the boy, “It’s Peter, Peter Parker, pleased to save you, grope you, then meet you.”

 

Shit.  Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.  The cocky little sod _had_ saved him.  He was buggered.  He could not owe a life debt to this child. 

 

“What’s your name?” asked the boy.  “Might as well make with the small talk, because we’ll be here for a while.”

 

Double shit. 

 

“Not really interested in small talk, Parker,” said Loki. 

 

“Shame,” said Parker, “and here I was thinking this was the start of a beautiful friendship.”

 

Loki shifted uncomfortably, “I just need to get out of here,” he said.  Out of this dark hole, out of this city, just out.

 

“Hey, dude, chillax, ok?” said Parker, “I know we’re in a bit of a bind here, not a huge fan of the small spaces myself, but try not to think about it, just talk to me, we’ll be outta here soon and you’ll be fine.”

 

The kid thought he was bothered by the small space, he wasn’t extremely pleased by the lack of movement and the unnaturally strong arms wrapped around him, the crushing metal in close proximity…  ok…  maybe it bothered him a little, but only a little. 

 

Loki could feel heat rising inside himself and he grew more desperate to escape from this ever increasing hell. 

 

“I just…  need to get OUT of here,” snarled Loki through his teeth. 

 

“Hey, dude,” said Parker, “tell…”

 

“STOP calling me DUDE,” said Loki. 

 

“Then tell me your name,” said Parker. 

 

Loki grumbled, “Puck.”

 

“Alright,” said the boy, “Parker and Puck, we should open our own detective agency.”  The boy grinned at him again, “Tell me where you were heading, keep your mind off things.”

 

“I don’t know,” said Loki, heat still rising in his chest and if he wasn’t careful his body would shift into it’s Jotun form just to cope with it. 

 

“Home?  Work?  A party?” he asked.  The kid asked a lot of questions.

 

“I can’t go home,” Loki said too quickly and he realised he was wearing the costume still and wished he had said ‘party’.  He had been under much more stressful situations than this, so he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t able to keep his cool.  Perhaps it was the blocking of his magic, perhaps it was because, he suddenly realised, that this kid, whoever he was, was completely capable of crushing him with his arms, and if he knew who Loki was, he would, and not a single person would care.

 

“I won’t pry,” said Parker, snapping Loki out of his train of thought and back to the present. 

 

“Thank the gods for small favours,” mumbled Loki.

 

They heard a voice calling to them, “WE’RE MOVING THE TRAIN!” the voice shouted, “STAY STILL!  KEEP TO THE WALL!  WE’LL CALL WHEN IT’S CLEAR.  OK?”

 

“OK!” shouted Parker.  He grinned at Loki, “See, we’re getting out of here, Puck, now hold still.”

 

Parker pushed himself against Loki, Loki noticed the tips of his hair were brushing the train.  Shit.  They were so close to it. 

 

He heard a hiss, then slowly, slowly, the train began to pull backwards.  Loki gritted his teeth, counting seconds until a voice called out to them. 

 

“YOU’RE GOOD TO MOVE!”

 

Loki sighed with relief a the kid released his grip from him and rolled out, Loki scrambled after him, getting to his feet, they both began brushing themselves down and suddenly Loki looked up and hard swallowed as he realised there were far too many people around. 

 

Men and women in uniforms, flashing lights, then suddenly he heard a woman shouting, “That’s him!” 

 

Triple shit.

 

He was caught.  A rat in the sewer.

 

“That’s the man who saved my boy!” shouted the woman, “he saved that boy too!  He’s a hero.”

 

Entire _world_ of shit.

 

“No, no,” said Loki, shaking his head, attempting to back away, then he felt Parker slapping his back, pushing him forward towards the platform, to reaching hands that were trying to pull them both up.

 

“That’s right,” said Parker, “he saved my life!  Complete hero!”

 

Loki glared at the kid.  You little….

 

Loki was pulled up onto the platform, people were slapping his back, attempting to ask him questions, flashing lights in his face, he saw Parker duck behind the crowd, slipping away, heading up the stairs.

 

“I need to go!” said Loki. 

 

“Give the man some space!” someone shouted, “let him get some air!”

 

Some of the crowd parted, letting Loki slip through, heading up stairs, after Parker.  Some men in uniform were chasing after him, shouting for him to stop, they had statements to take, they needed to know his name.  No chance of that. 

 

He got to the top of the stairs, seeing Parker’s hair duck into an alley way, Loki chased after him.  How could this kid move so fast?

 

Loki got inside the alley and saw the boy climbing up the side of a building, but he wasn’t using ladders or the metal frame, his hands were simply pressing onto the bricks and somehow he was scaling the side. 

 

Loki stood mouth slightly agape, then began climbing himself, luckily he was strong and agile, and there was enough space between the brick work for him to be able to dig his fingers into the spaces, climbing the wall, occasionally gaining footing on a more solid window frame and boosting himself further upwards. 

 

He pulled himself up and onto the roof, swinging his legs up and landing in time to see Parker pulling a mask over his face.  He was now dressed head to toe in a skin tight blue and red costume, a spider emblazoned on his chest, his head snapped towards Loki, he’d slung a bag onto his back, even through the mask Loki could sense a note of panic from Parker. 

 

Then he cocked his head to the side and pressed a single gloved finger to the space where his mouth should have been.

 

“Quiet now, twinkle toes,” he said, “I saved your life, so, you owe me.”

 

Then Parker broke into a sprint, running towards the opposite edge of the roof.  The little shit was bolting, Loki wasn’t about to have any of that.  He moved after him, and Parker jumped over the edge, Loki jumped after him, seconds later, expecting to see Parker scaling down the side of the building, but he was swinging into the air on a rope and Loki was now in free fall.  Oh well, he’d survive, it’d just hurt like a bitch.  He prepared himself, covering his face with his forearms. 

 

The pain never arrived.  A strong arm grabbed him around his waist and suddenly he was swinging through the air, Loki looked, Parker had him.

 

“Well that was pretty stupid,” said Parker, the rope fell and they began to fall, but Parker created a new one from his wrist, swinging them in a long arc around a corner.  “What are you?  My shadow?  How many times do I have to save you in one night?  Just hold on.”

 

As much as Loki knew he’d survive the fall from the height they were at, he really didn’t like the idea of free falling through the city into crowds below, so he clung his arms around Parker, and Parker, - the utter shit - released his hold, freeing up his arm to create a new rope, and gripping Loki with the arm he’d been using.  The contact had only been lost for a second, but Loki clung for dear life.  If he fell at this height and speed, he’d live, but they’ve be scraping him off the pavement and his identity would soon be discovered. 

 

Parker swung them, building after building, until they reached an area which was more of a home neighbourhood than the busy area in the centre of the city.  Parker dropped them onto rooftop, letting go of his hold on Loki. 

 

As soon as he was on his feet, Loki punched the kid in his masked face, the kid stumbled, holding his cheek, but he wasn’t floored, he should be floored.  Who the hell was this kid?

 

“Hey,” said Parker, rubbing his face, “I save you twice and that’s the thanks I get?  Well, cheers, buddy, boy you pack a hell of a wallop.”

 

“Who are you?” demanded Loki, “Are you one of the Avengers?”

 

“Me?” said Parker, “I’m just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man.”

 

Parker walked towards him, Loki had never seen someone walk as effortlessly as he did, but this kid, strutted.  In a skin tight costume.  The kid had style.

 

Parker pressed his index finger into Loki’s chest, “Look, I don’t need no shadow following me around, trying to be my sidekick.”

 

Well that was good, because Loki still needed to flee the city, he needed to get out of there.

 

“But you drew a lot of attention to me tonight,” Parker continued, “and you’ve seen who I am, and Jesus man, I don’t know who you are, Puck, but if you can punch car thieves as hard as you can punch me, then maybe I could do with a shadow following me around, watching my back.”

 

“What?” said Loki.

 

“Those Avenger dudes haven’t sniffed me out yet,” said Parker, “but I’m still in school and I don’t want to get dragged into their scary ass, world saving antics, I just want to help people, you know, on the street, not get my ass killed.  I saved you twice tonight, so I’ll do you a deal.  You want to be my shadow?  Help me out and keep those crazy Avenger dudes away from me and off my back, be my shadow and I’ll keep them off yours.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked Loki, darkly, had this kid figured out who he was.

 

“Come on,” said Parker, “it’s going to be all over the papers tomorrow, you did something to that kid on the train.  Once it’s out, Halloween or not, dude in a costume saves two kids in an epic train wreck, they’re going to be interested in finding out if you’re something they want to be on their side, or taken away to the place where they take the guys who piss them off.”

 

Oh not an option Loki was keen on. 

 

“I…  I’ve got no place to go,” said Loki.

 

“Shit,” said Parker, “you get kicked out of home?”

 

Loki nodded. 

 

“Well my aunt would have a shit fit if I took you back to my place,” said Parker, looking around, “but, this building’s empty, been abandoned for as long as I can remember.  We’ll see if we can get you inside, then I’ll bring you some supplies from home to see you through the night.  You’ll be safe here, I promise.”

 

And before Loki could protest the kid was crawling down the side of the wall, testing out windows and then soon his head appeared again and Loki could tell the kid was grinning beneath the mask. 

 

“Found a way in, come on, Shadow,” said Parker, “follow me.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter Two **

 

Six weeks. 

 

Six weeks since Halloween, the night of insanely bad luck on Loki’s part and he was simple sure of one thing.  He would save Peter Parkers life, repay the life debt, then he was going to kill him. 

 

And he was going to make sure that it hurt when he did, no matter how insanely strong Parker was for a 17 year old Midgardian with a stupid hair cut. 

 

Sometimes spending all his time with Parker was enough to make Loki almost miss his cell.  Almost.  The whole ‘shadow’ thing had started as Parker’s stupid joke, now the name had stuck.  On the first night, they’d broken into the abandoned building, established a main way in, an emergency way out, and then barricading all the other entry ways with furniture that had been laying around. 

 

Parker had disappeared and then returned with a blue roll he called a ‘yoga mattress’, Loki wasn’t sure who the Yoga people were, but he was sure they must all have pretty bad backs if that was what they slept on every night.  He’d also brought Loki a blanket which zipped up on one side, a sleeping bag he’d called it, Loki of course pretended to know exactly what it was called because he didn’t want to blow his cover. 

 

Parker had also given him a passable pillow, a few spare pieces of clothing and some food and water.  Enough to see Loki through the night he’d said. 

 

Of course, with no where else to go, the abandoned building which bore a faded sign on the front which read ‘ROBERTS FURNITURE’ had now become Loki’s more or less home. 

 

It suited him fine.  The bag was warm, and though the mattress wasn’t exactly the standard he was used to, he’d had a lot worse.  He made sure that at night no light came from the building, when he settled for sleep, but he did feel safe there.  Parker had brought him a camping stove, showed him how to use it, since Loki had told him he’d never been camping, and Parker took this in his stride, apparently not that strange a claim to make.

 

Loki had given Parker the money which had remained in the stolen wallet to buy him supplies, Parker hadn’t questioned why Loki couldn’t buy supplies himself, he just did it, like a helpful little worker bee.  Now Loki could boil water on the stove and make himself rice in a little pan, and tea, but Parker often brought him food from his own kitchen.  Sandwiches wrapped in silver foil, or a dish, with a still warm meal inside it, always saying that his aunt had made extra, and it would only go in the fridge for leftovers if Loki didn’t eat it himself.

 

Loki chose to always eat it.  The stolen money was gone, his supplies were limited, and Parker was generous with his offerings of food, so he’d try and save his supplies where he could. 

 

On their first excursion, ‘patrolling’ as Parker called it, Loki had absently grabbed a broom from a shop that was being robbed, and wielding it as if it was Gungnir, Loki had used it to bring the thief to the ground, Parker had strung him up by his webbing and hung him from a lamp post, bearing a hastily written note which read, ‘From your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man and his Shadow.’ 

 

Both the broom and the name had stuck.  Loki had removed the broom head and carried the shaft as staff, and he used it effectively.  The newspapers, a copy of one Parker had brought for him, bore a blurry photo of the two of them on the front page, Parker in his red and blue Spider-man outfit, and Loki in his black clothes, his cowl covering his face, hood drawn up, the headline had read, ‘Spider-man and Shadow save the day!’

 

Loki had glowered at Parker over that, but Parker had been unable to contain his excitement over the positive press and though the pictures of them in the papers which had followed had still been blurry, coverage of Spider-man and Shadow seemed to be largely positive.  Well, at least in the papers Parker brought him.  Occasionally Loki would find a paper carelessly left around the city from other newspapers and one in particular seemed to hate everything about Spider-man and his shadow, but then you couldn’t please everyone. 

 

At first Loki had been content to spend the days inside the Roberts building until Parker would arrive for patrolling with him at night, figuring that the kid would probably be able to be saved whilst he was out being reckless.  However Loki had soon grown bored of this and one night he’d followed Parker back to his house, and watched from a distance through a window as he’d snuck inside, then Loki had returned early the next morning and had taken to, as discreetly as he could, following Parker to school and watching over him, to see if he got himself into any trouble.

 

Notwithstanding some schoolyard bullies, which Loki couldn’t really justify as being able to ‘save’ Parker from, the kid largely put his head down and got on with things at school.  Aside from following around a pretty blonde girl like a lost puppy, in school Parker was a very smart, but average kid, it was only at night when he donned his costume and became Spider-man, did the REAL Parker show his colours with his sarcastic mouth and sometimes quite frankly out of control antics. 

 

Except for the one night a week when Parker would travel into the main part of the city to attend an internship, of sorts, which his aunt would no longer allow him to travel to by subway, so Parker would take out a bicycle, bid his aunt farewell, then web-sling his way across the city, Loki always following him, keeping watch.  Waiting for an opportunity to save the kids life.

 

Though if Loki had bad luck, the kid certainly made up for it with good luck.  No matter what seemed to happen, good luck seemed to follow Parker like flies around a honey pot, at least in Loki’s eyes they did. 

 

Loki now sat crossed legged on the floor of his room, carefully reading the previous days newspaper.  He always read it carefully, he didn’t want to miss any news that may be about him and especially not about Thor. 

 

So far there had been nothing about either of them, well not specially about Loki and Thor, though there had been plenty about Shadow, and other Avengers. 

 

Tony Stark appeared to be having some sort of crisis as there had been more pictures of Banner the monster helping Stark out of bars, Stark always grinning for the cameras, Banner always trying to cover his face.  Loki couldn’t help but wonder how two such individuals seemed to be such good friends.  Loki regretted slightly not recruiting Banner properly, as he had recruited Barton.  Banner was apparently loyal.  Though the beast was an unpredictably mass of sheer power and just the thought of being pummelled into the floor again by it made Loki shudder. 

 

Parker appeared at the window entrance, already in costume, holding a carefully balanced dish in his hand, silver foil covering the top. 

 

“Good evening, Mr Stalker,” said Parker, getting inside the window and pulling the mask off the top of his head.  Loki always wondered how his hair managed to stay in that ridiculously spikey style, even after being pushed down by the mask. 

 

“I thought I was your shadow,” said Loki, grumbling, but accepting the dish as it was handed to him.  He peeled back the foil, some kind of what was supposed to pass for cheese in this country, covered potatoes and what he supposed was meat.  It was hot though and Loki was hungry, so he picked up a fork from his small collection of cutlery and mumbled a thanks, digging in. 

 

“Well at this stage in our relationship, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive,” said Parker, “I saw you today, how long have you been following me to school?”

 

“Almost six weeks,” said Loki, shovelling the hot food into his mouth, he’d been hungrier than he thought. 

 

“Look, Puck, dude, if you’re gay for me, that’s fine an all, but I kinda got a girlfriend,” he said, “so put the fantasies in your spank bank and move on.”

 

“I’m not ‘gay’ for you Parker,” said Loki, washing down some of the food with a drink from a water bottle.  “I’m just watching your back, like you said, and I’d hardly call that cute little thing you follow around your girlfriend.  Generally people talk to their girlfriends.  You talk to your bullies more than her.”

 

“Dude, we should totally reconsider opening that detective agency,” said Parker, with a grin, spinning a hammock out of his webs and dropping himself into it as it swung carefully back and forth from the ceiling. 

 

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” asked Loki, now halfway through his meal.  “Regular patrol?”

 

“Nah, Puck, first things first,” said Parker, “I’m taking you to my place and stripping you off.”

 

“Now whose gay for whom?” asked Loki, quirking his eyebrow to no affect as it was beneath his cowl. “And I’ve told you before, I’m not taking off my mask”

 

“You can leave it on, makes no difference to me,” said Parker, still grinning at him, “but dude if you don’t get a shower, they’re gonna start calling you The Stink instead of The Shadow.”

 

Loki looked down at himself, his clothes were covered in dirt, sweat and grime, and whilst sometimes he did wear some of the things which Parker had given him when he was in his little ‘home’ he always kept to the same clothing when they were on patrol.  Loki sniffed himself, he was starting to smell. 

 

“Fine,” said Loki, “but I can’t exactly wear those clothes you gave me on patrol.  I don’t think blue jeans and a t-shirt with the words ‘Han shot first’-” Loki had no idea who Han was or who he was shooting, but it mattered not “- is going to strike fear in the hearts of hardened criminals.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” said Parker, waving his hand causally, “saved my allowance, got you some spare pants and hoodies, you can wear some of my old shirts underneath, no one will see, but you’ll be clean and not smelling like Oscar the grouch on a hot summers day.”

 

Loki put his fork down, he’d consumed all of the food and he felt much better for it, “You shouldn’t spend your money on me,” he said, “I’ve seen your house, you could use all the money you have.”

 

“Yeah well, I don’t think they’re hiring masked vigilantes at McDonalds at the moment,” said Parker, “so unless you’ve got another way of earning yourself some scratch, consider it your birthday and Christmas presents.  I’ll wash the ones you got on now, the armour will probably wipe clean, we’ll keep rotating them.  I’ll bring you more water you can heat on the stove for cleaning yourself, maybe some soap too, whatever floats your boat, but you need a real shower right now, dude.  So like at least once a week, twice, if we’ve had a big night on the town, you come to my place, get cleaned up, ok?”

 

It was really neither question, nor request.  Loki knew this. 

 

“I could just steal some clothes,” said Loki, breaking into a clothes shop would be easier enough, it wouldn’t take much magic to simply unlock a door, he had enough for that.

 

“Yeah, because a life of crime is really the way to go for you,” said Parker, “whatever it was that got you in trouble before, I don’t care, dude, just stay on my side, have my back, don’t steal anything, come to my place, have a shower, then we’ll paint the town red and blue.”

 

Trouble.  That’s how Parker always described it when it came up.  Loki’s trouble.  As if he was hiding from the law from some sort of petty crime, and not that he was the mad Asgardian who’d tried taking over the Earth.  If Parker only knew, Loki wouldn’t be here, eating food his aunt had lovingly cooked for her nephew, he’d be back in restraints and gagged faster than you could say ‘Prison Bitch.’ 

 

Parker snuck Loki in through his bedroom window, Loki really didn’t want to run into Parker’s aunt when they were both dressed the way they were, nor explain why her 17 year old nephew was sneaking a fully grown man into his room, and neither did Parker. 

 

A bundle of clean clothing was shoved into his hands, and Parker told him to leave the dirty ones in the bathroom and he’d wash them later, and Loki gladly entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him with both the bolt and a little magic. 

 

After weeks with only windows and puddles of water for reflective surfaces, he was glad to finally get a look at his reflection.  In the bathroom light, he looked ridiculous, but Loki was sure that on a dimly lit street, he actually could look a little intimidating, especially with his height, and the broom handle staff in his fingers. 

 

Loki stripped off, leaving the dirty clothes on the basket, but putting the cowl and armour to one side, since he’d have to put those back on.  The new clothes appeared to be very similar to the old ones, Loki was glad.  He transferred the things from his pockets, and then turned on the shower and stepped under the hot running water.

 

As soon as it hit his shoulder blades Loki groaned.  It had been far too long since he’d had a real clean, and cleaning himself magically was just a little too indulgent, particularly if at any second he might have to use his magic for something a little more fruitful than clean smelling arm pits. 

 

He inspected the bracelet locked around his right wrist.  Magic couldn’t free him from it, obviously.  There was a small mechanism, Loki had poked and prodded at it with a small piece of metal that had been folded into a circle he’d found on the floor of his ‘home’, feeling it out, it was incredibly complicated and while Loki had always been good with magic, tinkering with toys like an engineer had never been his thing.  He sighed, Parker was a smart kid, but this wasn’t something he could ask him about either.  The runes alone might be too much of a hint as to Loki’s true identity. 

 

Loki couldn’t risk that. 

 

But he had to find a way to get this damn bracelet off somehow.  He sighed, problem for another day, he had a shower to finish and criminals to find.

 

Loki washed himself thoroughly, his washed his hair, his face - his eyes were constantly coated in  black make up, the pot was still half full, but he’d have to talk to Parker about getting a replacement for that.  When he’d finished, he almost didn’t want to get out, but he knew he had to, so he towelled himself off, wringing as much water as he could out of his hair he decided it would be more comfortable, and less itchy at the back of his neck if he braided it, so he did, as best he could, at the back of his head, tying it off with a random piece of string he found in Parkers bathroom. 

 

He sighed as he looked in the mirror, goodbye Loki, hello Shadow, he slathered on the black make up, then began pulling his new clothes on, saving the cowl for last, then pulled the new hood up and opened the bathroom door. 

 

He found Parker sitting at his desk, doing what appeared to be homework, still costumed, save for the mask, he grinned at Loki, “Smelling like summer rain and fresh cut flowers again, are we?” he asked.

 

“The bottle said ‘tea tree,” said Loki.

 

“Close enough,” said Parker, handing Loki his staff and then pulling his own mask on.  “Let’s go catch us some bad guys!”  And Parker was already out of the window, and Loki was sighing and following after him, like his shadow.

 

~~~

 

“SO.  MUCH.  FUN!” shouted Parker above Loki’s head.

 

Fun wasn’t the first word which would have come to Loki’s mind to describe what they were doing.  Laborious, pointless and stupid, perhaps, but now that he thought about it for a moment, maybe it was a little fun. 

 

They’d spotted three armed men running out of a convenience shop, arms laden with stolen items.  They’d been on a short roof at the time, only three stories, so Loki had leapt over the top, flipping himself, landing on his feet, Parker had leapt and then caught himself on a lamp post using one of his web strings, and immediately then shot out more webbing at the three men, pulling their guns from their hands.

 

“Oh shit,” one of them had said as they’d spotted Loki and Parker, “It’s fucking Spider-man and Shadow, RUN!”

 

Loki had moved quickly and used his staff to trip one of them, whilst Parker had slung more webbing to grab their ankles, pulling the other two back.  Whilst Parker strung them up and hung them from a lamp post, Loki had sat on the third’s back, pinning him with both his weight and his staff pressed across the mans shoulders.  Once Parker was free he strung the third man up, then held up his palm in the air to Loki.

 

“Come on, dude,” said Parker, “don’t leave me hanging.”

 

Loki sighed, raised his own palm and slapped it against Parker’s, “I don’t know why you insist on making me do that, Spider-boy.”  When they were on the street, it was never Parker or Puck, not that it mattered much for Loki, but he noted how careful Parker was to never say his ‘name.’  Though when they were swinging through the air, or up high on rooftops, they were able to relax this unwritten rule a little.

 

“Because I’m trying to break you of being a stuffy old, dude,” said Parker.  They heard the noise of sirens blearing in the background.  “Uh oh, that’s our exit music, time to wrap up the acceptance speech.” 

 

He grabbed Loki around the waist and Loki grabbed onto Parker as he was suddenly pulled up and Parker was web swinging them quickly away from the scene, until they had gotten far enough away to drop onto a new rooftop and Parker let him go.

 

“I hate it when you do that,” said Loki, glaring at Parker as he released him. 

 

“Oh you love it really,” said Parker, Loki could tell he was grinning, stupid kid, “admit it, all this crime fighting stuff is way better than what you were doing before.  Way, way better.”

 

Better than being in a cell in Asgard, with daily visits from his mother to look at him through the glass sadly, and bi-weekly visits from his father to tell him how when his punishment was over they could all go back to normal and everything would be ok again, and how much Thor would need him by his side, and some how would find a way to smooth things over with the Midgardians, and…  Yeah, this was much better. 

 

As Shadow, Loki was his own man.  A man somewhat reliant on a 17 year old boy to bring him food and water and nag him into bathing, but still his own man.  Parker made no expectations onto Loki other than to watch his back.  Not a big ask considering Loki owed the kid his life. 

 

Asgardian or not, being hit full force by one of those trains with no where to go but underneath it, if it hadn’t completely killed him, he would have been discovered.  Loki wondered how betrayed Parker was going to feel if he found out the man he trusted, trusted with his life, with his true identity, the local of his home, was really the man who’d brought an army of aliens to his doorstep, almost destroying the city in the process. 

 

A lot. 

 

Probably a lot betrayed. 

 

Some nagging voice in the back of Loki’s mind told him he didn’t want to do that to this kid.  The kid had been good to him when he’d had no reason to, and all the kid wanted in return was for Loki to not blab his name to the papers and make sure that he made it back to his aunt each night in one piece.  And even in that, Loki wasn’t even sure how much help Parker needed.  The kid was strong and fast, he spun his webs and knew when danger was coming and Loki wondered if this ‘watching his back’ deal was again more for Lokis benefit than it was for Parkers. 

 

Damn kid.

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” asked Parker, pulling a coin from god knows where and flipping it at Loki. 

 

“This says ‘subway token’,” said Loki, looking at the coin. 

 

“Well what would you do with a penny?” said Parker, shrugging, leaning on the wall of the roof, casting a casual glance over the streets below. 

 

“I was just wondering why you keep me around,” said Loki, honestly and depositing the coin in one of his zip up pockets.  “You don’t really need me, not really.  You basically have to feed and clothe me, I have to be more trouble than I’m worth to you.”

 

“Are you serious, bro?” said Parker, slapping him on the back, “Puck, you totally have my back.  Come on, man, you follow me to school to make sure I’m ok, you give me an extra pair of eyes on the street.  Do you know how much stress it can _be_ , being a friendly neighbourhood Spider-man?  It’s not all buxom babes in trouble, sometimes it’s getting shot at and getting your ass kicked.  It’s nice having someone to talk to about this shit too, you know, being able to be…  well, me, around you, makes the job a whole lot easier.”

 

“I don’t know why you do it in the first place,” said Loki, pressing the knuckles of his fists onto the wall and leaning on them.  “You should be doing homework and following around that cute little girl you fancy.  Not getting shot at, you’re just a kid.”

 

“Yeah, but when I’m Spider-man, I’m not a kid, and you don’t treat me like one either,” said Parker, giving him another slap on the back.  “Besides when you got this kinda power, you should use it, to help people.  You got a responsibility to look out for people who can’t look out for themselves.”

 

“Do you practise that speech in your head?” said Loki, throwing Parker a smirk.  “So I need help and you help me because you should?”

 

“Nah,” said Parker, giving his shoulder a rub, “because I can, not because I should.  Besides, above everything else I always wanted an incredibly grumpy, English, big brother to follow me around and nag me.”

 

“I nag _you_?” said Loki, incredulously.  Big brother.  Huh.  That’s how the kid saw him.  Well that was…  unexpected. 

 

“Maybe we nag each other,” said Parker, and Loki knew he was grinning at him again.  “Now, come on, where’s that smile?”

 

Loki shook his head and in spite of himself, laughed at Parker.  “Alright, it’s early still,” said Loki, “let’s get some more criminals strung up and if you behave I’ll take you for ice cream.”

 

“YAY, ICE CREAM!”  shouted Parker, grabbing Loki unexpectedly and swinging them off the rooftop by his web shooters.

 

“DAMMIT, PARKER!” shouted Loki, clinging for dear life as Parker swung them high above the streets. 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter Three **

 

Dammit, Tony.

 

Damn you and your stupid, drunken, stupid head. 

 

Tony was stirring in his bed, Bruce checked his watch, it was a little after eight, Tony had slept for the entire day and well into the evening.  He was groaning, rubbing his forehead, Bruce slipped his hand underneath his head and lifted it so that his lips could reach the cold glass of water Bruce was holding. 

 

Tony guzzled it greedily, then gripping onto Bruce’s arm, Bruce helped him out of his bed, and helped him stumbling into the bathroom, sitting him on the floor of his shower and turning on the nozzles, leaving him to it. 

 

This was becoming a far too regular routine.  The previous night after Bruce had dragged Tony out of yet another bar, he’d had to bring him back to Bruce’s own room in the tower, since Tony wouldn’t go anywhere near the penthouse anymore.  Bruce had stripped him off, because cleaning up vomit from a bed and a person was a lot easier than trying to strip vomit covered clothing from someone and then still having to clean all three. 

 

Bruce had rubbed Tony’s back as he’d vomited into the toilet bowl, then helped him into bed, placing a bucket nearby, and several glasses of water, then gone to sleep on his couch, though he didn’t so much sleep as drift.  He was always too worried Tony would choke on his own vomit to actually sleep when he was in these states. 

 

But as much as Bruce loved his best friend, and as much patience he’d had for him in the months since Pepper had left, even Bruce was becoming a little sick of playing nurse maid whilst Tony destroyed himself more and more. 

 

Nothing seemed to be pulling him out of this funk.  One day Bruce had even resorted to calling Pepper, begging and pleading with her down the phone to come and just talk to Tony.  All that had happened was Bruce had to end up comforting Pepper down the phone as she cried and sobbed and said that she just couldn’t watch Tony do this to himself anymore and if she saw him again all she would want to do would be to come back and it would all begin again in a never ending cycle. 

 

And the truth was that Bruce didn’t know if the way Tony was behaving now was because he was heartbroken or if he’d have been behaving like this anyway if Pepper was still there. 

 

Bruce fried some eggs and bacon in a pan and put it on a plate, making sure it was extra greasy as the grease and fat would help Tony’s body recover nutrients he’d destroyed with a bottle of Jack.  He put it out on a plate next to a large glass of water and some painkillers, then went and got Tony from the shower. 

 

At least he was standing on his own two feet again when Bruce got into his bathroom, placing some clean clothes on the closed toilet seat for Tony.  Seeing his friend naked had stopped being embarrassing months ago.  Now it was just something Bruce had to do to help Tony.

 

Bruce went back and sat at the table, a few minutes later, Tony came stumbling out, wearing the vest and pants Bruce had left for him, sitting at the table and groaning gratefully at Bruce as first he took the painkillers and then devoured the food like a man who hadn’t eaten in weeks. 

 

“’Dis sof gud,” said Tony, his mouth full of half masticated bacon.  He swallowed, “I love you, Bruce.”

 

“Love you too, buddy,” said Bruce, drinking a mouthful of coffee, “but you know this has to stop, right?  I’m just one man, I can’t keep picking you up off the floor like this.”

 

Tony groaned, “So I’m grounded?  Sorry, MOM.”

 

“Yup,” said Bruce, ignoring the ‘mom’ comment, “you’re grounded, buddy, I can’t let you out of the tower anymore if this is how you’re going to keep behaving.”

 

“Come on, Bruce,” said Tony, “I’m sorry.  What time is it like five?  I’ll eat this and we’ll go for chalupas.”

 

“It’s gone eight thirty,” said Bruce. 

 

“Really?  Shit, I’ve missed happy hour at the Tilted Kilt,” said Tony, “though if we hurry we can make happy hour at the Grizzly Beaver….  _There_ ’ll be _boobs_.”

 

“There will be no happy hour,” said Bruce, “I’m serious, Tony, I don’t care if I have to lock you up in the detention cells.  No more.  It ends now.”

 

Tony pouted, “I can tell Jarvis to just have booze delivered.”

 

“You could try,” said Bruce, “but I’ll make sure Hulk is there to intercept the delivery.”

 

“You’re no fun,” said Tony, draining his glass of water.  “Seriously, Bruce, I need a drink.”

 

“Seriously, Tony, you’re not having one,” said Bruce, “I’m cutting you off.  One week, no drinking at all.  Then if you don’t disappoint me, I’ll let you have one glass of whiskey.  One.  You need to learn to drink in moderation, Tony.  I don’t want you to disappoint me.”

 

Tony groaned, “Don’t do this to me, Bruce, don’t talk about not being angry, just disappointed, you aren’t really my Mom, you know.”

 

“Don’t talk about mothers,” said Bruce.

 

“Yeah, sorry, forgot,” said Tony, “Ugh, does this really have to start now?  I’ve got the moth- monster of all hangovers and I could use some hair of the dog that bit me.”

 

“It’s now or never and I’m not letting you take never as an option,” said Bruce.  “So we’re going to go down to the workshop, and we’re going to go over some of the reports you’ve not even looked at.  Your new CEO is coping with Stark Industries, but you have a mountain of stuff from SHIELD and Fury said that if you don’t start dealing with it soon, he’s just going to send Tasha and Barton and they’ll deal with it, and I don’t really think you want them dealing with it.”

 

“Ugh,” said Tony again, “FINE.”

 

They exited Bruce’s apartment and stepped into the elevator, Tony had borrowed a pair of Bruce’s sunglasses and was busy wiping the lenses on the hem of his vest, too busy to notice until they had moved three floors that they were travelling up not down.  Tony threw Bruce a look and then put the sunglasses on his face.

 

“I’m not going up there,” he said, folding his arms just underneath the blue glow from his arc reactor. 

 

“Nothing up there is going to bite or kill you,” said Bruce “and I’m sick of sleeping on my couch, so you’re going.”

 

“Nothing’s stopping you from getting in with me,” said Tony, pushing Bruce’s patience on purpose.

 

“Nothing but the knowledge that you’d probably vomit all over me in your sleep,” said Bruce, “you and vomit seem to have a special relationship these days.”

 

“Stop saying vomit,” said Tony rubbing his stomach, “I’ve just eaten, I’m feeling delicate.”

 

The elevator pinged and Bruce stepped off, yanking Tony along by the arm.  Pepper had removed her things already, but Bruce had done a sweep of his own to remove anything Pepper related from the penthouse.

 

“I hate you,” said Tony, freeing himself from Bruce’s grip and immediately heading over to his bar. 

 

“I’ve cleaned you out already,” said Bruce, sitting on one of the bar stools, “to remove temptation.”

 

“I really hate you,” said Tony, checking under the bar and the cabinets and then behind a block of wood where the emergency vodka was kept, he wouldn’t find anything, Bruce was a clever boy.  “Bruce, seriously, are you doing this to me?”

 

“You’ve kinda forced my hand here, Tony,” said Bruce, sliding a pad along the counter top and pushing it towards Tony.  “We’ll work.  We’ll get through what’s left of today, and then we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

 

“I really, really, hate you,” said Tony.

 

“No you don’t,” said Bruce, “you hate what I’m doing, but deep down you know I’m right.”

 

“Doesn’t stop me from wanting to punch you in the face,” said Tony, “but I don’t want to hire Hulk as my new decorator, so I’ll probably give it a miss.”

 

“It would be advisable,” said Bruce, tapping on the pad to make Tony give it his attention.  “This is for your own good.”

 

“I miss Thor,” said Tony, sighing and finally relenting and picking up the pad, “Thor’s a great drinking buddy.”

 

“I’m sure Thor’s wonderful to drink with,” said Bruce, “but I can’t imagine him stripping you off and watching over your bed to make sure that you spew everywhere or wake up covered in your own feculence.”

 

“It wouldn’t be one of my proudest moments, would it?” said Tony, tapping on the pad.

 

“Not really,” said Bruce, “now _work_.”

 

x-x-x

 

Tony’s gripes and grumbles were actually kept to a minimum for the first few hours, so as a reward for actually doing some work for a change, Bruce said that they could clock off at Midnight and watch tv until Tony was ready for a few hours sleep and continue in the morning.

 

Bruce kept his word because Bruce was good like that, and they watched cartoons until 2am, where Bruce drifted to sleep on the sofa.  Tony wasn’t really good, so as soon as he was sure that Bruce was snoring he went to his book shelf and pulled an omnibus edition of Lord of the Rings from the shelf behind it was a tiny flask, only large enough to hold a single shot of whiskey.  He unscrewed the cap, it was still there, Bruce really wasn’t as thorough as he thought he was. 

 

Tony tipped the contents down his neck, smacking his lips together, and hid the flask away again, he’d have to find a way of refilling it and soon. 

 

He went back to the sofa and covered Bruce with a wool blanket before picking up the remote and began channel surfing.  He couldn’t really explain to Bruce the reason he’d been acting like he had.  He could barely put it into words himself, let alone fully understand what his head was going through.

 

It wasn’t all about Pepper. 

 

Well it was all about Pepper, but it wasn’t at the same time. 

 

Tony loved Pepper and yeah, he was heartbroken over the fact that she’d finally given up the ghost and packed her bags.  But it was more than just Pepper.  It was everything that Pepper stood for.  Pepper.  Dear, sweet, kind, loving, understanding Pepper.

 

The only person who had more patience with him was Bruce, and Tony couldn’t help but wonder if that was because Bruce of all people couldn’t afford to lose patience with anyone. 

 

If Tony couldn’t make it work with Pepper, he couldn’t make it work at all.  There could never be anyone else who could put up with his moods and his arrogance and his ego.  His ego was so big sometimes Pepper would say that there were four people in their relationship, because the third was Iron Man. 

 

Tony supposed that in the end, there’d just been too much Tony, and not enough Pepper.  And that, boys and girls, would always be the problem. 

 

Tony glanced at Bruce as the scientist made a snort.  Poor Bruce.  Dear, sweet, kind, patient, understanding Bruce.  He probably took more shit from Tony than anyone, and Tony sometimes manipulated that to his own ends, and he felt like shit about it, but that never really stopped him from doing it.

 

Bruce was his real, true, friend.  Thor was his friend, Tasha and Barton gave SHIELD priority over the Avengers, Steve was…  well, a work acquaintance that had his back, but Bruce.  Kind, loyal Bruce got him.  He got Tony. 

 

Outwardly, Bruce was the lonely one, and it was how Tony felt much of the time on his insides, he just felt more comfortable smiling for the cameras and pouring glass after glass of whiskey down his throat until he forgot why he was lonely and miserable at all. 

 

Tony changed stations on the tv, a news report came up, late night so it was just a repeat of the days main stories, but Tony hadn’t watched the news or read the papers or checked the news app on his phone in weeks, so it was all fresh to him. 

 

When the news caster finished up a story about a politician who’d been caught with his hands in the proverbial till, a blurry as hell photograph displayed on the screen of two guys, both costumed, appearing, through the blurs to be being pulled off the ground by a rope. 

 

He stopped concentrating on the picture and tuned his brain to the sound the newscaster was making, “…saving five. Spider-man and Shadow, who are rapidly becoming the heroes that the people on the street are looking up to.  And now we’re going to Steven for an on the scene- ”

 

Tony muted the tv.  Spider-man and Shadow?  Hardly names worthy of a Saturday morning cartoon and their own line of fully articulated action figures.  Who the hell were these guys?  For some reason this really irked him.

 

He picked up the pad that he’d been working on earlier with Bruce and performed a quick search to see if SHIELD had made any mention of these two clowns. 

 

There was.  On one of the more recent reports, a request from Nick Fury to bring one or both of them in for questioning, if possible.  He wanted to see if they were SHIELD material, or if they were dangerous and needed to be locked away.  There wasn’t a file attached, Fury must have assumed that Tony had been watching the news. 

 

Tony pulled up one of his screens from his work desk, “Jarvis?”

 

“Yes, sir?” said the computer.

 

“Bring up everything you’ve got on Spider-man and Shadow, spare me the fan web pages, if there is any, just the stuff the news has been reporting on for now,” he said. 

 

The computer complied, and files began filling the screen, copies of newspaper articles brought from their websites, video clips of news reports, Tony began trawling though them. 

 

It was hard to establish who had come along first, there was some reports of a man matching Shadow’s description, saving lives during a subway crash, there were also reports of car thieves being strung up from lamp posts before this, there was no real way to tell.  Tony thought it was fair to assume they’d sprung up at the same time, and either they had always worked together, or they’d formed an alliance really quickly.

 

They seemed to pop up all over New York, they didn’t really seem to work in a pattern.  Tony dropped dots on a map of all the reported sightings and strung up criminals and actual witnessed fights, there didn’t seem a pattern to it.  Though Tony noticed that they hadn’t been seen at all anywhere near Avengers tower, he figured if there was an Iron Man about, why bother creeping in on his turf.  Not that going out and stopping muggers and convenience store thieves was really his bag, which is what these guys seemed to do with the majority of their time. 

 

“Jarvis,” said Tony, “create new project, named SpiderShadow, file on private server.  Add all of this information and create new search parameters.  Anywhere we have eyes, any of our buildings, if one of these guys pops up, I want to know about it.  Immediately.”

 

“Feeling a little jealous, sir?” said the computer, “That the public have found some new heroes to adore?”

 

“Jealous?” said Tony, “Hah!  I’m Tony fucking Stark, I am Iron Man, two guys in Halloween costumes don’t exactly threaten my manhood, but I am curious as to what these guys are all about.  The news doesn’t seem to have much footage of them at all, some jolty cell phone videos and that’s about it.  These guys are a little too clever at avoiding camera coverage and I’d like to know if it’s because they’re good or because there’s something more sinister afoot.”

 

“Right away, sir,” said Jarvis. 

 

Tony supposed that would do for now.  He rubbed his face, he was feeling tired again, he considered sleep, but the bed seemed about as appealing as going for colonic irrigation so he picked up his pad and ordered a new one through his furniture suppliers.  While he was at it, he made sure that there was a new mattress and sheets, and curtains, and a couch, and in fact by the time he was done he’d ordered replacement furniture for the entire penthouse and also booked decorators to come in and redo the place.

 

That’d show Pepper. 

 

Tony sat back onto the couch, and gave Bruce a little shove so he’d lean in the opposite direction, then Tony tucked his legs up and rested his head against his arms.  When he slept he dreamt of red hair and a warm smile, and no matter how wide the smile was, Tony just felt sad.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Parker, grinning with pure glee, “I need to play it again, watch, watch, are you watching?”

Loki groaned and covered his forehead with his hand, “Must you? You’ve played it six times already.”

“Yeah, I must, watch it, come on,” said Parker, hitting the play button in the centre of the screen then cackling at the video as it played for the seventh time.

They were huddled in Parker’s bedroom over his laptop, watching the video play on a website which was designed for members of the public to upload videos - Loki was proud he was getting the lingo - so other people could view them all over the Earth. 

The video which had Parker so highly amused, had been captured from someone’s hand phone, and featured ‘Shadow’ at the end of tackling a mugger and handing a woman back her hand bag, and then subsequently being chased by three screaming teenage girls who were trying to hug him, with Parker eventually swinging out of nowhere and lifting him up off the ground and swinging him up into the sky. 

“See?” said Parker grinning at him, “come on, Puck, it’s funny!”

“Yes, of course, hilarious,” said Loki, “I am so glad I am here to amuse you. It makes me feel complete.”

“You’re so cute when you’re grumpy,” said Parker, putting his arm around Loki’s shoulders and giving him a half-hug. “You worried about getting recognised? That it?”

“No,” said Loki, “I’m worried that, let me see that number, oh fantastic, five million people have watched me make an absolute fool of myself, running away from a bunch of teenage girls.”

“And straight into the arms of a teenage boy,” said Parker, “if only they knew, they’d be drawing fan art about it. Wait, I bet they are drawing fan art about it!”

“What in the name of Od- all things, is fan art?” asked Loki.

“Old people,” said Parker, rolling his eyes. Loki had soon found that if he wasn’t sure what something was, Parker would often dismiss it as a generation gap thing. If only he knew how ‘old’ Loki really was. 

“Parker…. What are you doing?” asked Loki.

“Just gimme a minute,” said Parker, he typed in the words ‘shadow’, ‘spider-man’ and ‘fan art’ into a box and hit the key marked ‘enter’ and within seconds a host of images started appearing on the screen, the vast majority crude drawings of the two of them standing together, but after scrolling down the screen a little, Loki felt a little bile rise in his throat as some of the pictures had him depicted as kissing Parker on the mouth, Parkers mask drawn up, just so his lips were revealed. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” shouted Loki, pointing at the screen. 

Parker burst into another fit of laughter, apparently he found all of this highly amusing “Fangirls, man,” said Parker, shaking his head, “gotta love ‘em. Oh my god, check this out!”

He now typed in the words, ‘spider-man’, ‘shadow’, ‘AVENGERS’, ‘fan art’ and hit the enter button once more. 

As soon as the images began flashing up, and Loki saw a drawing of ‘Shadow’ and a distinctly blonde, figure carrying a hammer, he took the lid of Parker’s laptop and slammed it shut. 

“No,” said Loki, shaking his head, “no, just…. no. No more. None of this, no. I don’t want to see anymore, Parker.”

Parker pouted at him, “Aw, Puck, it’s only a bit of fun, dude, how many people can say they inspire this much fan art on the internet?”

“I don’t care, just… no,” said Loki. 

“Ok,” said Parker, pouting again.

“Are we going on patrol, or not?” asked Loki impatiently, “we were only supposed to come here so I can have a shower and now I’ve had one, thank you, can we stop watching these stupid videos and go do what we’re good at?”

“Actually,” said Parker, leaning back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head, still costumed aside from his mask, “I was kinda thinking we should skip tonight.”

“A night off?” said Loki, this was unacceptable, he couldn’t save Parker’s life if Parker was sat in his bedroom doing his homework. “Why?”

“Well, tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” said Parker. 

Christmas, a big Midgardian celebration that back in the day had been called Yule and further back in the day had been called Mithras, now generally an excuse for Midgardians to exchanged presents and then bitch about said presents later if they weren’t deemed good enough, he was familiar with the concept. 

“So,” Parker continued, “The Avengers are doing this big publicity thing in the city tonight, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not run into those guys.”

Ah, yes, Loki had to agree with him on that one.

“Well, I’ll just head for home then, shall I?” said Loki, turning towards the window, then Parker caught his wrist.

“No, wait,” said Parker, “I think you should stay.”

“I’m sure your aunt is a wonderful conversationalist,” said Loki, “but how exactly are you going to explain to her that you know ‘Shadow’ when she does not know your true identity and before you say it, no I shall not be removing my mask.”

“No, Puck, she’s gone for the night,” said Parker, “she’s gone to visit my great Uncle Horace in his care home across state, she won’t be home until tomorrow. I figured we could, I don’t know, kick back for the night, watch some movies, eat a pizza, come on man, chill out with me, dude.”

Loki groaned. While the prospect of going ‘home’ and then sitting in the dark for hours, alone, didn’t seem all that appealing, having to sit and absorb Midgardian ‘pop culture’ wasn’t exactly Loki’s cup of tea either. Still, lesser of two evils and all that. 

“Alright, Parker,” said Loki, “we shall enjoy a night off.”

x-x-x

Loki sat on Parker’s couch, he’d taken off his body armour and hoodie, leaving him in his trousers, mask and with the undershirt, which was one of Parker’s old ones, bearing the words, ‘Papa Smurf’ and a blue creature depicted upon in, - something which Loki would have taken an insult if he wasn’t one thousand percent sure Parker had no idea who he was. Loki had made a bracer from a scrap of leather he’d accidentally torn from the jacket of a car thief, and put it over the rune bracelet which blocked his magic. Parker had seen the bracer and called it cool, but all Loki cared of was that Parker didn’t see the bracelet. 

Both his and Parker’s feet were propped up on the coffee table in front of the couch, Parker had changed out of his Spider-man uniform and was simply wearing jeans and a t-shirt which bore the likeness of a person who Loki didn’t know, but it mattered not. 

Between them on the couch was a cardboard box, with pizza inside it which Parker had ordered to be delivered to his house and while at first Loki was sceptical of this incredibly foreign food, it was hot and had tasted good, and so far he and Parker had managed to eat at least half of it between them during the course of the second movie they’d been watching.

Parker had actually made Loki tea in a mug too, one of his aunt’s things no doubt, and Loki was grateful for the effort. Loki hadn’t seen a movie before, and the experience was quite interesting, when Parker had asked him which he’d prefer to watch from a collection of five or six boxes he’d laid on the table, Loki had had a moment of panic, then quickly selected the box whose covered he like the design best for. 

So the first movie Loki had ever seen in his life was one titled, ‘Jurassic Park’ Loki told Parker that he hadn’t seen this particular one before, - not telling him he’d never seen a movie before of course - and Parker had at first looked quite shocked, then gave a little smirk which Loki wasn’t sure he liked, then opened the box, took out a disc and slotted it into a machine below the television.

At first the movie had seemed interesting, Midgardian scientists, recreating a long extinct creature, the joy and wonder on the faces of the characters was a sight to behold…. Then the thudding had started, and Loki had found his heart was pounding in his chest as the gigantic creature ripped and tore into the vehicles the Midgardian children were trapped inside. 

He was just a say making it through the movie without making an absolute idiot of himself reacting to the people on the screen, and just as he was sitting forward about to scream ‘YES’ as the power came back on, when the raptor creature burst through pipes and Loki actually jumped clean off the couch with a yell and Parker had a hard time controlling his laughter at Loki’s reaction. 

He’d paused the movie and when Loki composed himself they continued and Loki found himself enthralled by every moment presented to him on the television. When the pizza had arrived the movie had just finished, so Parker selected the next one, a tale called ‘Robin Hood, Prince of thieves’ and Loki was enjoying it, though not quite as much as he had enjoyed the first one. 

“There aren’t any raptors in this one,” Parker had said with a smirk, as he’d placed the new disc in the machine, and Loki had rolled his eyes at him. 

“You knew that was going to happen,” Loki had said accusingly.

“Well, duh,” said Parker, “I thought everyone in the English speaking world and then some had seen that movie.”

After the second movie had reached it’s climax and they’d finished the pizza, Parker turned the television to the news, which was speaking of a suspected terrorist attack somewhere in the Middle East.

Parker looked at him, “So, what are you doing for Christmas?” he asked, “I’m assuming you’re not going home.”

“You assume correctly,” said Loki, “I’ll just be in my building I suppose. You must spend the day with your aunt, yes?”

“Yeah,” said Parker, “but once the festivities are done and dusted, I’ll come over, we’ll go on patrol. Crime doesn’t take a break, so nor should we.”

“Yes, aren’t we taking a break, now?” said Loki.

“Tonight doesn’t count,” said Parker, “the other guys are all out there, and normally they aren’t around, so they can pick up the slack for one night.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s logic in that somewhere,” said Loki. He stood up and stretched out, picking up his hoodie and body armour, “I should probably leave, it’s getting late and we could both do with an early night.”

“I thought you could stay here tonight if you wanted,” said Parker, “I got a camping bed I could put up in my room. Be a lot warmer than that building.”

“Well,” said Loki “as tempting as the thought of listening to you snore all night is, Parker, I think I’d prefer to sleep in my own bed, as it were.”

“Suit yourself,” said Parker, standing up, “I’ll show you to the window.” 

“Such a gentleman,” said Loki as he pulled on his outer clothing. 

Parker walked him to the window in his bedroom, and then Loki spotted something on his bookshelf. A batter and fairly worn copy of a book, bearing the title, ‘Jurassic Park’ without even thinking, Loki grabbed it and began inspecting the back cover. 

“It was a book too?” he asked.

“Seriously?” said Parker, “Have you been living under a rock or something for the last twenty years, Puck?”

“Yes, Parker, I’ve been living under a rock,” said Loki, his tone was sarcastic, but it might as well have been true really with his lack of knowledge of current Midgardian culture.

“Keep it,” said Parker, pushing Loki towards the window with a hand on his back, “Merry Christmas.”

Loki looked at Parker, “You’re giving it to me?” he said, holding the book to himself.

“Sure,” said Parker, “you liked the movie, you’ll love the book.” He shrugged his shoulders, “Besides I have like four copies.”

“Why would you own four copies of the same book?” said Loki.

“It’s a really good book,” said Parker, “g’night, Puck.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” said Loki, ducking his head through the window, “thanks for tonight, Parker.”

“Later, dude,” said Parker.

x-x-x

When Loki got back to his building he sat crossed legged on the floorboards, turning the book over in his hands. Parker had given the book to him as a gift, a Christmas present, though Parker had already bought Loki new clothing and called it his ‘Christmas and Birthday’ presents. 

Loki sighed, it would be extremely bad form of him not to get something for Parker in return, after all he had done for him, though he had the feeling that if he just went out and stole something Parker would be incredibly disappointed in him.

Damn this kid. When did he start caring about what Parker thought about him? Probably around the time Parker started referring to Loki as his brother. Though if he was being honest with himself, probably even before then. The kid had been too good to him, that was the problem. 

Loki didn’t have the magic to conjure anything, nor did know what he could conjure, even if he was able, but perhaps he had enough magic to be able to create something himself, if he could find the right materials.

He began digging through the things he’d found in his room, there was stationary a plenty, scraps of old paperwork, a few pieces of small office furniture, it wasn’t until he came across a ball of thin twine that inspiration really struck him and he set to work. Weaving and threading until the light was too poor to continue working without using one of his lamps for emergencies, and he generally preferred to draw as little attention as possible to his home, even if he was several stories above the ground, so he packed up for the night to sleep, he would finish his work in the morning.

x-x-x

Christmas Day for Loki didn’t really begin until the evening had drawn in. He’d spent most of the day pouring over the previous days newspapers, he’d been surprised that over the last couple of weeks there’d been less photographs of Tony Stark, falling out of bars, but then Loki supposed that the papers would tire of these antics eventually. 

Though there had been a lot of coverage from his and Parker’s night off, lots of colour photographs of the Avengers in all their splendour, waving to smiling crowds, the Iron Man performing some sort of reckless flying stunt. Loki was glad his brother had not appeared in the photographs, though he couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed that he and Parker had taken the night off, and the Avengers had done nothing to help the city but smile and wave to the masses.

‘Publicity whores’, thought Loki. 

After the papers he’d resumed reading his book, so far the book had been just as enjoyable as the movie, and Loki was pleased that there were so many differences, he had no idea what was about to happen as each new chapter began. 

When Parker showed up, Loki put the book to one side, and Parker presented him with a plate, covered in silver foil, which Loki peeled back and consumed ravenously, while he had a little rant at Parker about the laziness of the Avengers, effectively forcing them both off the streets for a night, but doing nothing to contribute towards their efforts of making the streets of New York a safer place. 

When he’d finished, Parker shoved a gaudily wrapped package into his hand, “Merry Christmas, Puck,” he said. 

“But…” said Loki, “you already gave me that book, and you bought these clothes, which was more than sufficient. Parker, you should not be wasting your money on frivolities.” 

“Just stop bitching and open the damn thing,” said Parker, “you grinch.”

Loki tore back the paper, and found a box, he lifted the lid and inside he found two pots of the black face makeup he used around his eyes, a new cowl, almost identical to the one he wore now, and a few tubes of something called, ‘spirit gum,’ and a small black mask.

“I don’t understand,” said Loki examining the contents. 

“Well I thought you do with a spare mask,” said Parker, lifting it out of the box,  
“and the other one is for if you ever got caught short. I thought you could glue it on underneath your main one, then if it ever gets ripped off, you’re face still has some partial covering.”

“That’s actually really good thinking,” said Loki, pulling it out of the box, “think I should put it on now?”

“Well, I’m a pretty smart boy really,” said Parker, and Loki could tell he was smirking beneath his mask. “Yeah, sure, put it on, put on your new cowl too, I’ll take it home to wash tonight, don’t worry I’ll turn my back.”

And Parker did. Of course he made a big show of it, covering the white eyes of his mask with his hands and turning his back completely on Loki. He chuckled and applied a thin layer of the spirit gum around the inside edge of the mask, pulling up his cowl he stuck it to his face and pressed until it held on it’s own, and then quickly switched so he was wearing the new one. 

“Ok done,” said Loki, and Parker turned around, “can you tell I’m wearing a second mask beneath?”

“Nope,” said Parker, “I hope there’s never a time when you have to rely on it, but it’s easier for me to escape than you, so I’m glad you have it at least.”

Loki nodded his head, “Yes, I quite agree.”

“Alright, ready to kick some Christmas butt?” asked Parker, rubbing his gloved hands together in glee.

“Wait,” said Loki, “I have something for you too.” He bent down to his small collection of belongings and fished up a small package wrapped in newspaper and held it out to Parker. “Happy Christmas.”

“I’d ask if you stole it,” said Parker, “but I think I know you better than that now, so, er, thanks, Puck. Unexpected, but appreciated.”

Parker tore back the newspaper and then held up the gift, scratching his head, “Dude, did you make me a friendship bracelet?”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Hold out your wrist, let me put it on,” he said, taking the twine bracelet from Parkers hand and pulled back the sleeve of the glove, fastening it to his wrist.

“Are you sure you’re not gay for me?” asked Parker.

“Quiet, you nitwit,” said Loki, as he tied it off and rolled up the left sleeve of his hoodie, showing Parker he was wearing an identical one. “Don’t ever take it off, ok? This will tell me if you’re ever in trouble.”

“Because there’s a time when you’re more than 100 feet away from me?” said Parker, chuckling. 

Loki gave him a slap on the back of his head, and Parker rubbed it, with a moan. 

“I’ve woven a little magic into it,” said Loki, “the string won’t break, it can be unfastened, but it can’t be just torn from your wrist. And if you’re ever in danger, mine will grow warm, and I’ll know to come find you immediately.”

“Oh right,” said Parker, suddenly sounding excited about the idea, “you’ve got that magicy, whammy doo daa stuff. Why don’t you use more of it when we’re out and about?”

Parker had seen Loki use a little magic now and then, the first time on the train, and in the weeks passing Loki had used a little on occasion, but only where sparingly, and where completely needed. He’d not really asked Loki about it until this point.

“It’s limited,” said Loki, “and I’d rather save it for when I really need it and most of the time, hitting guys on the head with my stick seems to do the job.”

“That it does, my friend,” said Parker, “that it does.”

They both rolled their sleeves back down and Parker gave Loki a good natured slap on the back, “Now let’s go have ourselves a holly, jolly Christmas.”


	5. Chapter 5

** Chapter Five **

 

 

“Dammit, Tony,” said Bruce, shaking his head and looking disappointedly at his best friend, “you’ve been so good.  Why’d you have to go fuck it all up?”

 

Tony was resting his head on his arm, leaning against the bar in the penthouse, now fully re-furnished and redecorated - he’d paid extra for a rush job on it.  In his right hand hung a half drank bottle of Jack. 

 

He sighed, and looked at Bruce, “I’ve not been good,” he said, “not really.  I’m bad, Bruce, I have stashes you haven’t found.”

 

Bruce looked at him with despair in his eyes, “Can you at least stop now?  Please?” he looked at his watch, “It’s two thirty, it’s Christmas Day, can you…  please, just stop, Tony, please.  Could we try, just _try_ and have a Christmas Day like normal people?”

 

“Fuck Christmas,” said Tony, “I’m the fucking grinch.  I’m not going down there.  You can’t make me, Jolly Green.”

 

Downstairs in what was the Avengers main floor, where there was a meeting room, a kitchenette, and a small living area, all part of the same, huge, open plan room, Steve, Happy Hogan, Barton and Tasha were waiting for them. 

 

They’d agreed to have an Avengers Christmas together, since none of them had any family, or at least none they wanted to spend Christmas with, so they’d spend it together.  However when Tony had woken up at eleven, facing Christmas had been the last thing he’d wanted to do.  So he’d opened his own personal Christmas present to himself, the bottle of Jack, and began drinking and hadn’t stopped until Bruce had come up to find out where the hell he was and what was taking him so long to come down, despite being called by Jarvis several times. 

 

Now Bruce had been standing there, for some time now, looking at him with those _eyes_.  Those large, disappointed eyes which were staring at him, drilling a hole through his resolve to continue being a drunk, selfish, bastard and making him feel guilty. 

 

Tony groaned, “Bruce,” he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead into the cold counter top, “don’t look at me like that, man.  I can’t take the look of disappointment.  Please, Bruce, give me a break.”

 

“Well, how do you expect me to look, Tony?” said Bruce, “I _am_ disappointed.  I’m so disappointed in you right now.”

 

Tony felt like sobbing, “Don’t say that, Bruce.  Please, not from you.  Not today.”

 

A hand slipped across his back and began rubbing in-between his shoulder blades, soothing, trying to placate him.  “Please,” said Bruce, “please come downstairs with me.  You don’t have to pretend to enjoy yourself, you don’t have to try to enjoy yourself, but please, for me, come and spend Christmas with your friends.”

 

Tony groaned again, “Honestly, Bruce, you’re the only friend I could give a shit about.  I don’t want to be with anyone else.  Why would I go down and spend today with those people and do it while I’m still shockingly sober?”

 

“Because your best friend is asking you to,” said Bruce, not missing a beat. 

 

/Damn him.

 

“Alright,” said Tony, sitting up, “but you’re not allowed to use that again for the rest of the year, and tonight, we’re going out.  Yes, we are, don’t look at me like that, we’re going to a bar, and I’m getting drunk, but since it’s Christmas, I’ll let you drag me home while I can still walk.  Deal or no deal?  Time to choose a box.”

 

“Fine, deal,” said Bruce, a little down beaten, but snatching the bottle of remaining Jack from Tony’s hand and putting it out of reach, “now come on, everyone’s been waiting for you so we can swap presents.”

 

“I was supposed to buy presents?” said Tony. 

 

Bruce glared at him, Tony grinned.

 

x-x-x

 

Of course Tony had bought presents.  He’d bought token, but still expensive gifts for the others, but in the gift swapping he’d presented Bruce with two neatly wrapped boxes.  The first, the larger of the two, had contained a joke present from Tony, a 15 inch Hulk plushie that Tony had just ordered to be put into production, along with the other Avenger toys his company already made. 

 

Though this Hulk was a new design and instead of the usual growling face, had a huge dopey grin and large sparkling eyes and two pink blush marks on either cheek.  Bruce had laughed, he had laughed so much he’d had to hold his stomach to contain himself and stop from falling over.  He’d then sat the Hulk toy next to himself and gave him a little pat on the head.

 

“I’ll let him sleep in my room,” said Bruce, grinning, “thanks, buddy.”

 

“Open the other one,” said Tony, a sly grin creeping across his face.

 

Bruce opened the second box, a much smaller box, and lifted a key from inside, he looked at Tony confused, “What does this open?”

 

“Your new apartment,” said Tony, “I’ve upgraded you.  A little thanks for everything you’ve done these past few months.”

 

“I don’t understand,” said Bruce. 

 

Tony rolled his eyes and grabbed Bruce by the hand, dragging him towards the elevator, and the others followed out of pure curiosity.  They all crammed inside the lift, and Tony hit the button for the floor beneath his own, the one which had been the top R&D floor. 

 

They stepped off, into the corridor and Tony ushered Bruce to unlock the door.  Bruce did and stepped into what had been R&D 10, and what was now Bruce’s new apartment. 

 

The others all crammed in behind Tony who was blocking the doorway, peering around him curiously as Bruce stood, looking taken aback in the now fully decorated, and fully kitted out apartment, you couldn’t even tell it had once been an R&D lab. 

 

He’d given Bruce a proper living room area, wide and open, plenty of light coming in from the huge windows, there was a half partitioned kitchenette area at the back.  To the side was a bedroom, instead of just having a bed pushed to the side of the wall as in the floor Bruce currently stayed in, it had its own en-suite, there was also a ‘shared’ bathroom, and a spare bedroom, in case Bruce had a friend to stay, or Tony was feeling too miserable to go to the penthouse, and now wouldn’t have to steal Bruce’s bed.  There was also a small room off to the side, which was decorated, but had nothing inside but a furniture catalogue and Tony’s credit card on top, so Bruce could make it whatever he wanted, an office, a mini lab, whatever. 

 

All the furniture and décor was high end stuff, Tony had spared no expense, he’d fully stocked the kitchen, it was more stocked than his own now, and filled the wardrobe in Bruce’s bedroom with plenty of nice expensive threads, but Tony, being Tony, he’d also filled one of the draws with the largest, stretchiest pants that money could buy.  So Hulk didn’t feel left out. 

 

Bruce stood in the centre of the room, turning around and looking in amazement at the apartment.  Tony reached into his pocket and tossed Bruce a set of keys, which he barely caught because he was still looking a little shell shocked. 

 

“There’s a new Lincoln continental in the garage with a big green bow on it,” said Tony, “I was going to go with a Lotus, but I thought the continental was more your style.  Anyway, Merry Christmas, you like it?”

 

“  I don’t understand.  Tony…”  said Bruce, “I can’t…  all this…  a car…?  It’s too much.  It’s just too much.”

 

“Hey, I’ll decide what is and what isn’t too ostentatious to give my best friend for Christmas,” said Tony, “and when I say this apartment is yours, I mean it.  Your name is now on the lease for Avengers tower.”

 

Bruce didn’t seem to be able to form words. 

 

Behind him Tony heard Barton say, “I wish I had a billionaire boyfriend.”  Then he heard him yelp, as no doubt Tasha had elbowed him in the stomach.

 

“Come on, Bruce,” said Tony, “did I paint the walls the wrong colour?  Not enough purple for you?”

 

Suddenly Bruce’s arms were locked tightly around Tony in bracing hug, and Tony chuckled, hugging Bruce back as tightly as he could, considering his arms were pinned to his sides. 

 

“Thanks for putting up with me,” said Tony quietly just saying it loud enough so that only Bruce could here.  “And thanks for not giving up on me, I couldn’t ask for a better friend.  I’m sorry, Bruce, I’m sorry I’ve been such a shit to you.”

 

x-x-x

 

As it turned out, giving Bruce a helluva bribe in the form of a new car, new apartment and new incredibly expensive, building lease, was _not_ a big enough bribe to convince him to let Tony totally cut loose as he’d been planning to. 

 

Bruce had dragged Tony, drunk but still standing and putting one foot in front of the other, out of the bar around ten thirty to much grumbling and griping on Tony’s part, since it was Christmas and even in New York, this meant a lot of places which would have normally been open were closed for the holidays. 

 

Tony had wanted to order a town car, but Bruce had insisted upon him that it was only an hour walk and he could use it to sober up a little.  Tony couldn’t help but comment that Bruce was far too used to public transportation and not having any money.  Bruce had given him a playful hit on the back of his head for the comment.

 

“There must be an open deli around here somewhere,” said Tony as they walked down the street, looking around.

 

“If there is, I don’t think they will sell chalupas,” said Bruce. 

 

Tony had been having major chalupa hankerings lately. 

 

“No, I want ice cream,” said Tony, “and real ice cream, not that cool whip, low fat, frozen yoghurt, tasty delight _bullshit_ either.”

 

“I love it when you talk dirty to me, Tony,” said Bruce with a grin, “that looks like it might be an open deli on the corner, we’ll see what we can find.”

 

They walked to the corner and found that the deli was indeed open, there was a freezer chest filled with ice cream bars and popsicles, Tony chose an Eskimo Pie for himself and Bruce after some cajoling picked a Magnum Classic, then at the counter had grabbed a packet of twizzlers and some junior mints, causing Tony to laugh and call him a sugar junkie.

 

They tore off the wrappers in the deli and began eating the ice creams as they walked down the street. 

 

“Fancy a trip to Europe?” asked Tony as he bit into his Eskimo pie, “this isn’t hitting the spot and I really want a Maxibon, if I tried to import some they’d probably melt on the way.”

 

“You want to go to Europe, so that you can buy a specific type of ice cream bar?” said Bruce, biting into the chocolate coating of his Magnum.

 

“Too indulgent?” asked Tony.

 

“Little bit.”

 

They only walked half a block when Tony spotted something flying past his head, he looked into the sky, and grimaced. 

 

“I don’t fucking believe it,” he said, shaking his head, “don’t they take a night off?”

 

“Who?” said Bruce, looking up, “what?”

 

“It’s those two clowns,” said Tony, pointing to where a red, blue and black blur was swinging from the buildings, “Spider-boy and what’s-his-name.  I don’t suppose you have one of my suits in your pants do you?”

 

“Don’t look at me,” said Bruce, “all I have is this Magnum Classic.”

 

“ _Shit_ ,” he said, suddenly feeling sober and not really in the mood for ice cream anymore.  “First time I actually clap eyes on them and my suits are too far away to get to.  Shit.”

 

“What’s the problem?” asked Bruce, he’d managed to devour half of his ice cream, “they aren’t bad guys, right?  Why’d you need to go chasing after them?  It’ll keep for another day.”

 

Tony grumbled, “I suppose,” he said, “but it just bugs me.  We know nothing about these guys.”

 

“Well we know the one in black scares easy,” said Bruce, “do you see the clip on youtube?  I swear I nearly pissed my pants.  The _Other Guy_ doesn’t run from teenage girls…  not that teenage girls ever chase the _Other Guy_ down the street.”

 

“What youtube clip?” he asked incredulously, throwing the remainder of his ice cream into a trash can and pulling out his Stark phone. 

 

“Search for, ‘Shadow, chase, girls, funny’ and that should find it,” said Bruce, licking a dribble of ice cream from his fingers before eating the last of the chocolate coating. 

 

Tony typed in the words and soon a clip was playing on his phone of the black clad hero being chased down a street and his spider-themed partner having to rescue him.  Bruce leaned into Tony’s shoulder to watched the clip as they walked, chuckling, Tony shook his head and once it had finished, slipped the phone away into his pocket. 

 

“Ok,” said Tony, “that _was_ pretty funny.”

 

Bruce finished the last of his ice cream, licked the stick and threw it into a trash can, “Told you.  It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if these guys were gone in a month or two.  It’s probably a couple of kids in way over their heads.”

 

“Yeah, well, as long as they aren’t as smart as _we_ were when we were kids,” said Tony, “imagine me at twenty, as Iron Man.”

 

“You’re bad enough at forty three as Iron Man,” said Bruce.

 

“Hey…” he said, “I’m thirty eight.”

 

“I’ve read your file, dip shit,” said Bruce, “I know your real age, not the one on your publicity shots.  _I’m_ thirty eight.”

 

“You know, sometimes, Brucie,” he said, “that brain of yours is so beautiful, but other times it’s just damn annoying.  Hey, there’s a cab!” 

 

Tony took a step into the street and waved his arm, flagging the yellow cab down and when it pulled in, Tony shoved Bruce into the back seat and told the driver to take them back to the tower.

 

“We were supposed to be walking,” said Bruce, “a cab on Christmas day, really?”

 

“Relax, honey, Daddy’s treat today,” said Tony, “I want to get home and get suited and booted and maybe see if I can spot the wonder twins.”

 

“Oh great,” said Bruce, “this is going to be your new obsession isn’t it?  You’re like a dog with a bone.”

 

“Woof, woof,” said Tony.

 

x-x-x

 

Tony slipped the cab driver a hundred to run the reds and get back to the tower as quickly as possible, earning a disapproving look from Bruce, but thankfully no nagging. 

 

When they got inside, Bruce said he was going to gather his possessions from his old floor and ‘move in’ to his new apartment.  Tony suited up. 

 

“Ok, Jarvis,” said Tony flying off the platform and into the city, “I gave you the street reference of where I saw Bill and Ted on their excellent adventure.  You tapped into city surveillance?  I gotta get a location for them.”

 

“Calculating now sir,” said the computer, “I have a rough location I’m displaying on your hub now, I will keep calculating and inform you if you must alter your course.”

 

“Thanks, Jarvis,” said Tony. 

 

As he flew, the location switched three times, as Jarvis kept tapping into city surveillance cameras, he kept altering his course, until he saw the two he was looking for, landing on a roof top a few buildings ahead of him. 

 

They immediately began having, what looked to Tony from the arm gestures, as some kind of argument, and he switched to silent running, and approached as quietly and as sneakily as he could, so he could listen in.  He got Jarvis to record through his visor as soon as he was close enough to hear them properly.  They were so caught up in their argument they didn’t even notice Tony landing on the opposite end of the roof, and sitting down with his legs crossed, watching them.

 

“That was completely reckless of you!” shouted the one clad in black, The Shadow.

 

“On come on, man,” said the Spider-boy, “it’s Christmas, stop being such a Scrooge McDuck.”

 

The Shadow growled in frustration, Tony noted he had a British accent and sounded older than the other, who spoke with an American one, “You are INFURIATING, _little brother,_ ” he said. 

 

“Hey, I didn’t ask for you to follow me around all the time,” said Spider-boy.

 

“YES, YOU DID!” said Shadow, grabbing the spider by his stretchy costume and giving him a shake, though not one that had any _real_ violence to it. 

 

So they were brothers.  That explained the conflicting costume themes, if not the accents, though, it was entirely possible they’d grown up in England and moved, and the younger had simply taken to a new accent because of youth.

 

“Oh, yeah, I did,” said the Spider-boy, slapping his brother on the shoulder, “well cheer up, bro, it was all good.”

 

“I hate to interrupt this kodak moment,” said Tony, “but I have been dying to have a word.”

 

Two heads instantly snapped in Tony’s direction, Tony could barely see Shadow’s eyes, the hood drawn over his face created, well, a shadow, and the cowl covered everything but the bottom part of his face, and Tony could just see the scowl the mouth drew into. 

 

“GO!” shouted Shadow. 

 

The Spider-boy leapt off the roof, and his Shadow leapt off after him.  Tony burst on his thrusters, and moved across the roof, just in time to see the Shadow clinging onto the Spider’s back, swinging around a corner, Tony burst off, in hot pursuit.

 

“JARVIS,” shouted Tony, “keep your eyes on them!” 

 

He banked the corner they had swung around to find they had gone, disappeared into thin air. 

 

“Jarvis?”

 

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the computer, “they moved into a black spot and I lost them.”

 

“GODDAMMIT!”  shouted Tony.  He flew around trying to pick the trail back up, trying to figure out just where they had swung to, but he found nothing and Jarvis couldn’t see either of them anymore, so after an hour of searching, he gave up and flew back to Avengers tower. 

 

“Jarvis,” said Tony as he landed on the platform, “add tonight’s recording to project SpiderShadow.  I’ll review it in the morning.”

 

“Right away, sir.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter Six **

 

It had been a quiet evening, there hadn’t been much trouble in the areas they normally went on patrol, so they’d ventured uptown, a little too close to Avengers tower for Loki’s liking, but it wasn’t as if he could take over the travel direction when they were moving at this height, swinging around some of the biggest buildings in the city.

 

Loki gripped on tightly and shouted at Parker as he swung too low above a police car, mouthing off as usual, and a young police officer, in a moment of panic drew his gun and fired a wide shot which only missed them because they were in full momentum at the time.

 

“PARKER, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” shouted Loki, into the boys ear as he panicked and then swung them onto a roof top, dropping them out of the line of fire. 

 

“Why’d you have to mouth off to him?” said Loki, gesticulating wildly as he gained his footing on the roof, turning to Parker. 

 

“Dude, it’s kinda what I do,” said Parker, “he missed us, what are you bitching about?”

 

“That was completely reckless of you!” said Loki, he would have had no problem surviving a direct bullet hit, but Parker had a much softer head and Loki wasn’t sure how much magic it would take to be able to push a bullet out of his skull and then keep him alive afterwards, probably more than he had access to.  And if Parker had been shot in mid-swing, they’d have both fallen and the fall might very well have been enough to kill the boy anyway.

 

“On come on, man,” said Parker, “it’s Christmas, stop being such a Scrooge McDuck.”

 

More pop culture that Loki wasn’t familiar with.  Just as he seemed to be learning about one thing, something new would be referenced and he’d be confused again.

 

“You are INFURIATING, _little brother,_ ” he said.  He regretted saying it as soon as it had come from his lips, because it made him think of Thor and the times Thor had been angry with him after he’d pulled some attention seeking mischief, like hiding a sharp pin in their least favourite Uncle’s seat cushion, or trying to become all mighty ruler of Midgard, you know, kids stuff. 

 

“Hey, I didn’t ask for you to follow me around all the time,” said Parker.

 

“YES, YOU DID!” said Loki, he wanted to strangle him, but he knew he’d kill him if he did, so he simply gripped his Spider-man outfit instead and shook him to emphasis his point. 

 

“Oh, yeah, I did,” said Parker, and Loki knew he was grinning stupidly at him from beneath his mask, “well cheer up, bro, it was all good.”

 

“I hate to interrupt this kodak moment,” said a voice from behind them, “but I have been dying to have a word.”

 

Loki snapped his head to the side, he knew that voice. 

 

Oh shit licking, arse, tit, wank, bollocks, twat, fuck, shit, cunt, arse, SHIT.

 

The man of Iron. Tony Stark. 

 

“GO!” shouted Loki, and Parker leapt off the roof without hesitation. 

 

Loki leapt after him, catching him around the shoulders as Parker spun out a web to quickly catch them mid-air.

 

“WE CAN’T OUT RUN HIM,” shouted Loki, “GET US INTO THAT ALLEY WAY, QUICKLY!”

 

Parker complied, without argument, swinging them into a nearby alley way, dropping them onto the ground and Loki quickly pushed Parker up against the wall, into the  shadows and held his hand over the part of Parker’s mask which he knew his mouth was located. 

 

“Keep quiet,” he said, “I need to put everything into this.”

 

Loki closed his eyes, concentrating, pushing himself to the limits of the magic that he could access and drew the shadows up and around them, shrouding them in complete darkness.  Loki held his breath, risking enough break in concentration to open his eyes and glanced to the side. 

 

He saw the Iron Man suit fly past them.  Loki closed his eyes again and resumed on his concentrating.  He pushed himself to his very limits, pressure building up in his temples, the bracelet blocking the majority of his magic that was locked around his right wrist had begun to burn, he ignored it.  He didn’t even know how long had passed when he felt Parker’s fingers close around his wrist.

 

“Puck,” he said softly, “dude he’s gone, you can….  You can stop now.”

 

Loki took a breath, he opened his eyes, his body felt like it was full of dirty, rancid air.  He tried pushing it out and breathing in the new, clean air, or as clean as the air could be in a New York back alley.  He slumped to his knees, the shadows began to dissipate, he felt Parker’s hand touch his shoulder.

 

“I’M FINE,” he snapped. 

 

The hand withdrew and Loki took several long minutes, kneeling on the filthy alley floor, breathing, regaining his energy until he was able to push himself back up to his feet. 

 

“You ok?” asked Parker.

 

“I’m fine,” said Loki, calmly, “I’m…” he paused, “I was trying to access more than I could.”

 

“Now who’s the reckless one?” said Parker.

 

Loki raised his eyes and gave Parker a death glare.  

 

Parker turned his back to Loki and pointed at his shoulders with his thumb, “Ok, hop on, I’ll get you back home, no arguments, you saved our asses just there, it was too fucking close, so let me help you.”

 

Loki grumbled something under his breath and then reluctantly, latched onto Parker and in seconds they were being pulled up by one of Parker’s webs and he was soon swinging them out of the alley way and taking via back streets all the way to Loki’s building.

 

As soon as Parker dropped him inside his room, Loki managed to keep himself upright, but only barely and got to his little bed set up where his yoga mattress and sleeping bag was and then allowed himself to collapse down into a seated position on top, leaning his back against the wall.  He closed his eyes, taking several long, deep breaths, then grabbed one of his bottles of water, drinking the entire contents in five gulps, then grabbed a second and repeating the same action.  Then grabbing the third.

 

“You’ll make yourself ill,” said Parker.

 

Loki hadn’t even noticed that Parker was still there, he looked up to see Parker stood opposite him, he’d pulled his mask off and was fumbling with it between his fingers, a look of concern written across his face. 

 

“I just need to replenish,” said Loki, “I’ll be fine.” 

 

He took a few gulps of water, leaving three quarters in the remaining bottle and reached for his supplies, he didn’t have the energy or patience to cook some rice or pasta as he probably should have done, so he pulled out a jar labelled ‘peanut butter’ something which he’d been curious about so far, but hadn’t found occasion to break into. 

 

He unscrewed the lid, and it’s actual purpose be damned, he didn’t care if he looked a fool, he picked up a spoon and dug it into the brown contents and then shovelled it into his mouth.  He really hadn’t been expecting either the taste or the texture or the sensation of the peanut butter.  Though it was so sticky he was glad he hadn’t drank the remainder of his water. 

 

All in all he ate five large spoonfuls, and licked the spoon clean before he replaced the lid on the jar and drank half the remaining water.  Parker still stood, looking at him, it was beginning to make Loki feel very uncomfortable.

 

“That guy, the Iron Man, he really put the shits up you didn’t he?” said Parker.

 

“Well I’m sure if I’d remembered to bring my broom handle with me,” said Loki, indicating to where he’d left it lying before they’d set off, “I’m sure I would have felt like I had more adequate fire power to deal with the _arsenal_ he had inside his suit.”

 

Loki didn’t like how much Parker was attached to him, or how attached he was getting to Parker, because the look on his face, concern and worry, was cutting through Loki and the plan had not been to get attached.  The plan had been to save Parker’s life, get the hell out of New York, get the damned bracelet off and then use his magic to properly disguise himself so he didn’t have to keep wearing the stupid mask twenty four hours a day, and he could teleport himself to a decent hiding place.  Some place with a real bed maybe, although he’d settle for running water and a toilet system, two things he was currently lacking in the new ‘home’ he’d found for himself. 

 

The problem was that Loki had always been a little too good at lying, and now he was lying to himself.  He could have found a way to leave the city before now.  He could have come back once his magic was back to full power and simply ‘spared’ Parker’s life as a means of saving him and repaying the life debt he owed. 

 

Being this close to the Avengers, being this close to where Thor would no doubt appear when he eventually came looking for him when he realised that Loki had slipped to Midgard and not Alfheim, as would have been the more sensible location.  Even for Thor, Loki thought, he was taking his time working that one out, surely he should have realised by now.

 

“We won’t go up town again,” said Parker, “it’s too close to Avengers turf.”

 

Loki wasn’t sure if Parker would be exercising this caution for both of them, or just for Loki, but either way, this actually made him feel a little relieved. 

 

“That would probably be for the best,” said Loki, “now we know they’re aware of us at least.”

 

Parker spun out a web hammock from the ceiling, whenever he did this they usually dissolved after a prolonged period and Loki would get annoyed about having to clean up the resulting mess. 

 

“We’ll stick to areas with less city cameras too,” said Parker as he spun, “if they’re actively looking for us, we don’t want to give them too easy a way of finding us.  I mean sure if someone’s in trouble we’ll go help.”

 

“What are you doing, Parker,” said Loki, indicating to the hammock, “you know I have to clean away your web spooge whenever you do that, don’t you?”

 

“I’m gonna stay here tonight,” said Parker, jumping into the hammock and letting it sway back and forth a few times until it settled. 

 

“Won’t your aunt have a conniption fit if she goes to find out where you are and discovers you are not in your room?” said Loki. 

 

“I’ll just tell her I went to a friends house and ended up crashing,” said Parker, “she probably won’t check on me anyways.”

 

“But you don’t have any friends,” said Loki, pulling off his boots and laying out on his mattress, sticking his legs into his sleeping bag and pulling it up around himself, not bothering to take off his hoodie and body armour.

 

“I got you, don’t I?” said Parker, throwing him a smirk.

 

Loki didn’t have his own friends.  Thor had friends, Loki had always been the tagalong, they couldn’t deny him this right, Thor would always insist upon it and besides anything else, Loki was a Prince and was entitled to a little of their respect.  But in the end, they’d always been Thor’s _friends_ , Loki had been tolerated and nothing more. 

 

Loki looked at Parker, the boys expression was nothing but complete sincerity.  Parker was his friend.  Parker was his best and only friend.  He was his little brother, one who was as fragile as he was strong, one who needed protecting.

 

Loki shook the sentimental thought from his head, Parker wasn’t Loki’s friend, he was _Puck’s_.  Puck might have been real to Parker, but to Loki he was simply the mask he wore, to protect himself from being discovered.

 

“I don’t count,” said Loki, “not as someone you could use an alibi to explain your absence.”

 

“Pah,” said Parker, waving a dismissive hand, “she doesn’t get too curious about my friends anyway, she won’t pry too much.  I’m a good boy, I couldn’t possibly be up to mischief.”

 

“You’re such a cocky little shit, Parker,” said Loki, unable to stop himself from smirking.  “I hope you don’t expect me to tuck you in and read you a bed time story.”

 

“I wouldn’t ask _you_ for a bed time story,” said Parker, “you couldn’t know any good ones, you hadn’t even seen Jurassic Park.”

 

“Well I’ve seen it now,” he said, “but I’ll have you know, I know plenty of bed time stories, I did have a mother you know.”

 

“I don’t remember much about my mother,” said Parker, wistfully.

 

Loki felt guilty.  He’d not really pried into why Parker lived with his aunt, and not his parents, it seemed to be a painful memory for him.  From the bits of information that Parker had given him, Loki had managed to work out that Parkers parents were dead, and had been since he was a small boy, and his Uncle had recently died as well, leaving him without a father figure in his life. 

 

His aunt seemed to care for him though, she cooked for him and cared for him and loved him.  She was a mother to him, Loki knew you didn’t have to be born to a woman for her to be your mother. 

 

Loki missed his mother.  He missed her badly.

 

“I bet your aunt is a wonderful mother,” said Loki.

 

“She is,” said Parker, and he smiled at Loki, “Let’s just get some sleep, we’ll keep our heads low for a few nights, see where we are.”

 

“Yes, I think we’ve had enough excitement for one evening,” said Loki, pulling his hood further down so he was practically cocooned.  “Goodnight, Parker.”

 

“G’night, Puck,” said Parker, “sleep tight.”

 

“Don’t let the bilgesnipe bite,” said Loki.

 

“What the fuck is a bilgesnipe?”

 


	7. Chapter 7

** Chapter Seven **

 

Tony knew the best way to prepare for an argument with Fury.  Prepare, prepare, prepare.  First, make sure he knew exactly all the points he needed to make, back it up with evidence, make sure he was on the Avengers floor and not his personal one, to look professional, and then down half a bottle of vodka before even thinking about bringing up the view screen.  Cheap vodka too, something named after an obscure Russian author and was closer to paint thinner than actual vodka. 

 

Christmas day had been something of an embarrassment, not only had the two clowns in party store outfits completely given Tony the slip, but he’d seen hide nor hair of either since, with New Years Eve only a few days away, Tony had made it his New Years resolution to find them before SHIELD did and find out what these guys were all about.

 

Over hearing their conversation and being up close had done nothing to quell his curiosity, in fact it had only intensified it, to the point where every time Jarvis gave him an update on a possible sighting of the two, Bruce would give him a sly look and say ‘woof’ which amused Bruce to no end, but Tony wasn’t as easily amused.

 

He wasn’t about to be shown up by two amateurs, he needed to stay on top of the situation, he needed to be as sharp as a needle.  He really needed some bourbon, but vodka was the spirit available to him, and let it not be said that he couldn’t improvise when he had to.

 

As soon as Tony was sure he was getting the ‘warm fuzzies’ from the cheap vodka he put through the call to Fury and did his level best to ignore the smirk on the director’s face.

 

“You know, Stark,” he said, “if two kids in Halloween costumes are giving you so much trouble, we can take over completely.  We don’t have to go through this dance.”

 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Fury,” he said, “but I’m already mid rumba and no one else is signing my dance card just yet.”

 

“Stark, this would be so much easier for all concerned if you allowed SHIELD to take the lead on this,” said Fury, “I’ll send Barton and Romanoff, they’ll bring them in, we’ll do a full assessment, everyone will be happy.”

 

“My turf, my rules,” said Tony, “any other city in the world, and some wannabes show up, you can do what you like, but this is my town, so I’m gonna be the one banging the drum, it’s my beat, and _everyone_ is going to be dancing to it..”

 

“We can’t have another abomination situation, Stark,” he said.

 

Tony groaned, Fury wouldn’t let the damn abomination thing go.  Tony wasn’t even there at the time, sure Bruce was, and Harlem got a little….  broken…  but that was hardly his fault.

 

“Fury, so far the most dangerous thing these guys have taken on, are a bunch of car thieves,” he said, “and you can’t blame me for that whole abomination thing.  I wasn’t there, and if I had been things would have gone down a whole lot different.”

 

“Try to not let the fact that you and Banner are now bosom buddies cloud your judgement on this,” said Fury, “this was the agreed upon procedure.  Now that we have potential alien threats against Earth to contend with, we have to be careful about possible threats from within.”

 

“I’m sick of repeating myself, _Nick_ ,” said Tony, “I’m doing this softly, softly, catchy monkey, they bolted as soon as they saw me the other night, and yeah, they gave me the slip, but I will find them, and I will bring them to the tower and give them a stern talking to, boy scouts honour.”

 

“I’m giving you a week,” said Fury.

 

“A _week_?” said Tony, “that’s _so_ not enough time, what if they’re taking the holidays off?  Ok, they worked Christmas, but what if they’re Jewish?”

 

“Not my problem, Stark,” said Fury, “Romanoff thinks she could probably track them through the city and bring them to the helicarrier very easily, so you have a week to find them, to bring them in, then we’re doing it my way.”

 

“Well you can take your way and you can shove it up your-”

 

The screen went blank. 

 

Tony was kinda glad, running his mouth would only get him in more trouble. 

 

“Ok, Jarvis, let’s do a web crawl,” said Tony, “bring me up everything that’s not come from an official news source, pictures, videos, written accounts, trawl the social networks, blogs, I want every sighting we don’t already have and I want them pinned to the map with a date.  These guys move around a lot, but there’s got to be some sort of pattern to it, if I can figure out where they’re based I might be able to track them a whole bunch easier.”

 

“Searching now, sir,” said the computer.  “Doctor Banner is on his way up in the elevator, might I suggest you dispose of your alcohol, sir?”

 

“Good thinking, Jarvis,” said Tony, he grabbed the bottle, chugging half of the remaining contents and then stuffed the bottle into the back of a plant pot, hoping the very leafy plant would keep it hidden until Bruce had left.

 

Come to think of it, he had no idea why there was a plant pot there, or who was watering the plants.  The Avengers floor didn’t get used much when the Avengers weren’t actually about.  So he made a mental note, first find out who bought the plant, then find out who was watering it, and if the answer to either of those was Pepper, take it out to the ocean and bury it at sea.

 

Bruce stepped off the elevator, smiling at Tony, making him feel guilty for drinking in the middle of the day by looking at him with those _eyes_. 

 

“Hey, buddy,” said Tony, smiling at Bruce, “what’s up.”

 

“I was thinking,” said Bruce, seating himself on a stool in the kitchenette area, “maybe you should think about getting back on the horse.”

 

Tony took the stool next to Bruce, smiling, leaning on his elbow, “Are we talking about an alcohol horse?  Because I am all up for that, I will call him, um, dammit, what’s the name of that movie about a horse?”

 

“Black beauty?”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bruce,” he said, “the one about the race horse.”

 

“Er, Racing Stripes?”

 

“ _No_ , that’s the one with the zebra,” he said, “the other one, the one with that whiney kid in it.”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Tony,” he said.

 

“Hang on, I’ll google it,” said Tony, pulling his phone from his pocket, and tapping away, “SEABISCUIT!  That’s the one.  Can you set me up with the horse line again?  I think I’m off my game today.”

 

“No,” said Bruce, “ and I wasn’t talking about an alcohol horse.”

 

“Were we talking about a gambling horse?” said Tony, “Vegas, baby?”

 

“No, baby,” said Bruce. 

 

There was a silence pause. 

 

“Let’s not call each other ‘baby’ again,” said Tony.

 

“Agreed,” said Bruce.

 

“Moving on,” he said, “we were talking about horses.”

 

“When was the last time you went on a date?” asked Bruce.

 

Tony mulled it over in his mind, “Does having sex in a bathroom stall count?  Because if it does, then the last time I went out drinking without you following me around like a bad smell.”

 

Tony had not been lacking in the sex department since Pepper left, it wasn’t like he was begging for sex _before_ he became Iron Man, now he was practically fighting them off with a stick.  There was not a shortage of women who wanted to sleep with a superhero.  Actually there wasn’t a shortage of men either, but aside from a few drunken fumblings in college which hadn’t resulted in full sex, and a few unreturned phone calls to Johnny Depp, Tony’s main interest lied with women.  Or _laying_ with women.  

 

Actually, there was a lot of standing up involved, too.

 

The problem was that the sex just felt a little _hollow_ , he seemed to be doing it because it felt like it was something he _should_ do, rather than something he _wanted_ to do.  When he saw a women eyeing him up in a bar, his heart didn’t pound in his chest, he wasn’t struck with an overwhelming desire to kiss her or drag her into the bathroom for quick, hot sex.  He just waited for the signal and if it came, hollow sex followed.  Though hollow sex, going through the motions sex, was still pretty enjoyable as far as sex went.

 

The last time he’d felt his heart pounding was with Pepper.  He swore the next time he felt it, he was going to do something about it, and not in a bathroom stall either.

 

“I mean a _real_ date,” said Bruce, “you know, going to see a movie, or going to a restaurant, or going for a drink, talking, laughing, going for ice cream, not having sex in a bathroom.”

 

“In that case,” said Tony, “I went on a date with _you_ the other night.  And you haven’t called, you didn’t send flowers, you’re tearing me apart, Bruce.”

 

“Well if you recall, you ran off at the end to chase some other boys,” said Bruce with a small smirk.

 

“It’ll never happen again, I promise,” said Tony.  “In all seriousness though, Brucie, I’m good on the sex thing, _you_ on the other hand, when was the last time _you_ went on a date?”

 

Bruce’s cheeks went a little red, “It’s been a while.”

 

“I’m guessing it was Betty, am I right, or am I right?” said Tony.

 

“Can we not talk about Betty?” said Bruce, “Or me?  Please?”

 

“Well I don’t want to talk about me either,” said Tony, “so can we drop that subject?  Oh, hey, did you buy pot plants?”

 

“No,” said Bruce, “why would I buy pot plats?”

 

“I’m trying to figure out where they came from,” said Tony, “I’m sure _I_ didn’t buy pot plants.  It must have been Pepper.”

 

“I’m having a little trouble following your train of thought here, Tony,” said Bruce, “have you been drinking today?”

 

“Another change of subject…”

 

“So, that means ‘yes’,” said Bruce.

 

“Fury’s given me a week to find Burt and Ernie,” said Tony, “or he’s sending Tasha and Barton to find them.”

 

“Tony, just how drunk are you right now?”

 

“I’m making it my mission to find them before the week is up,” said Tony, “I’ve got Jarvis looking for the points they’re most likely to turn up at across the city…”

 

“TONY!” said Bruce, “I thought we had discussed this, I thought you were trying to be good.”

 

“Well, I’m not good, Bruce,” he said, “I’m not like you, I can’t just throw myself into volunteer work, I throw myself into the bottle.”

 

Bruce sighed, “Look, if I promise to help you, for the rest of the day with this new obsession of yours, will you not drink anymore?”

 

Bruce was giving him the puppy eyes.  Damn him.

 

“Alright,” said Tony, conceding, “just stop with the guilt, and the damn puppy dog thing you do with your eyes.”

 

“I don’t do a puppy dog thing with my eyes,” said Bruce, attempting to look innocent.

 

“Don’t tell lies, Bruce, your nose will grow.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

** Chapter Eight **

 

“Just how many times are you going to make me do this?” asked Parker, folding his arms petulantly across his chest.

 

“As many times as it takes, until you get it right,” said Loki, tapping his staff against his foot impatiently.  “You’re the one who suggested a training session instead of running out on patrol.  You brought this on yourself.”

 

“Yeah, but when I suggested it, I thought it was going to be _fun_ ,” said Parker.

 

“Well now you know differently,” said Loki, “so let’s try it again.”

 

“No,” said Parker, “no, you cheat.”

 

“I do not cheat, you do not _listen_ ,” said Loki, he set his staff to one side, and then adjusted his stance, “strength does not matter, your actions, your balance, your stance, these are far more important.”

 

“Oh don’t start giving me all this crouching tiger, hidden dragon, bullshit,” said Parker, throwing his arms up in frustration, “I don’t need it, I got my web shooters, I am like, super strong, I can crawl walls - why do I need to learn how to do this stuff?”

 

Loki let out a sigh.  He would be patient, he would _not_ strangle Parker with his own webbing.  Despite how tempting a prospect that might actually be.

 

“What if your webbing runs out?” said Loki, “Suppose your enemy is stronger, suppose there is not a wall for you to climb.  Then how would you defend yourself?”

 

“I’d hide behind _you_ ,” said Parker.

 

Loki smiled, “There may be hope for you yet, Parker, that was the first sensible thing you’ve said all evening.  Now let’s try again.”

 

Parker sighed, he threw a punch, Loki dodged it, grabbed his wrist, twisted and had it behind his back before Parker had realised he had moved.

 

“Ow, ow, ow!  Ok, Pai Mei, you can quit it now,” said Parker.

 

Loki released his hold and shook his head, “That was terrible.”

 

“Well you could give me a clue,” said Parker, “a hint.  Just tell me, where am I going wrong?”

 

“Well for a start, you’re trying to hit me,” said Loki.

 

“How am I supposed to fight you, if I don’t try to hit you?” said Parker, his voice rising in frustration.

 

“You’re not using your head,” he said, wrapping his knuckles against Parker’s skull, “ask yourself, what do you know about your enemy?  I am strong, and fast, you know this.  In terms of fighting techniques, I know more than you, so you cannot hope to defeat me in straight hand to hand combat.”

 

Parker started listing things off on his fingers, “I’m not supposed to think about strength, I’m not supposed to use my webbing, I’m not supposed to climb walls, what the hell do you expect me to do?”

 

“ _Think_ ,” said Loki, “the first rule of combat is that there is no fight until someone makes the first move.  Do not be so fast to run into a fight where you are disadvantaged, you will lose every time.”

 

“So am I supposed to just stand there and wait to get my face pummelled?” said Parker, “I think your training techniques leave something to be desired.”

 

“Use your head,” said Loki, “stand back, observe, learn what you can before you go rushing in.  In my case you already know much about my fighting style so use what you know to your benefit.  What advantages do you posses over me?”

 

Parker sighed, he tilted his head, looking towards the ceiling, “I don’t know, web shooters I’m not supposed to be using right now, web crawling, speed…”

 

“ _Speed_ ,” said Loki, “though I am loathe to admit it, you are much faster than I, so how can you use that to your advantage?”

 

Parker seemed to stare at him for a few seconds, and he threw a punch much in the same manner as he had done before, but this time it was a feint and he then moved to the side, grabbing Loki’s arms and hooking them behind his back.

 

Loki grinned, “Excellent,” he said, “of course, your stance is atrocious and I could probably kick your legs out, but it’s a much better start than your previous attempts.”

 

“Awesome,” said Parker, “can we knock this on the head now and do something actually fun?”

 

He released his hold on Loki, and he turned to face him, “Well, we’re supposed to be laying low, do you wish to risk going on a regular patrol?”

 

“Oh god, yes,” said Parker, “we’ll still keep our heads down, but I need to get back out there.  I think it would help a lot if we had a way of going straight to where trouble was happening, instead of going looking for it all the time.”

 

“Don’t worry, Parker,” said Loki, patting him on the shoulder, “trouble always seems to find me, I doubt we’ll be stood about twiddling our thumbs for long.”

 

x-x-x

 

Loki really should have known opening his big mouth would only lead to his prediction coming true.

 

They’d been passing through what Parker had described as a ‘nice and quiet’ neighbourhood when they’d observed two rival street gangs about to start a serious gun fight that would have no doubt left the innocent passers by with as many injuries as the gang members themselves, if they hadn’t outright killed them. 

 

Parker dropped him, mid-swing into the centre of the two gangs, they stood staring at him for a few seconds, looking confused, then Parker had snatched all the guns from their hands using his webbing.  This still left most of them with knives, and Loki pondered briefly that it was nice that he and Parker were bringing street gangs together in unification because they all angrily decided to swarm him as soon as they realised they’d been disarmed. 

 

Some had run away as he and Parker began subduing them, Loki used his staff, hitting knuckles with tremendous force, probably breaking a few hands, but causing knives to be dropped left, right and centre as Parker webbed them and strung them up one by one.  Loki was easily able to fight three at a time as they kept attempting to go at him, he had the advantage, they were young, stupid and untrained, but they were angry and angry people could be dangerous if underestimated. 

 

Loki kept pushing them back, keeping them from getting too close, using his staff, keeping his strength under control so he didn’t accidentally kill one of them as he suspected Parker would probably be a bit upset with him if he’d just gone about snapping necks, which would have probably made the whole affair much easier.

 

As Parker strung the last one up, the gang members began kicking their legs and protesting that they’d mixed up their groups and now were hung next to their enemies.  It would have been funny if Loki hadn’t heard the distinctive sound of Iron Man in flight somewhere close by.

 

Parker looked at him, then grabbed him around the waist and lifted them into the air. 

 

“ _Shit_ ,” said Parker, mid-swing, “what are we going to do?  Can you do your shadow thing again?”

 

“I could-” began Loki, “no, wait, that bridge.”  He pointed to a small train bridge with an archway for traffic to pass beneath.  “Get us to underneath it.”

 

Parker did.  There was an overhanging lip, and Parker tucked them into the corner of the underside of the bridge, pressing himself against Loki so they both stuck as tightly against it as he could.

 

Loki spoke in a quiet whisper, “He won’t fly under here unless he saw us.  If he does appear, let me distract him, you get away, do you understand?”

 

“What?  No way,” said Parker, “I’m not leaving you behind.”

 

“You’ll do it,” said Loki, “now hush, he’s getting closer.”

 

Parker seemed to press himself even closer, laying them flatter against the brick work, Loki’s fingers gripped onto Parker’s arm as the noise of the suit drew closer and closer. 

 

Loki held his breath, his eyes closed, Stark was about to pass right over their heads, then they were engulfed with noise and shaking, Loki gripped onto Parker tightly, his eyes flying open as Stark swept under the bridge, passing not 10 feet below them. 

 

They remained frozen in position until the sound of the suit had disappeared completely into the distance and finally Loki exhaled.  Parker swung them out from under the bridge and swung them to an abandoned building, breaking a window and getting them both inside.

 

“Are you ok?” asked Parker, as soon as they were in the building.

 

“Yes, I’m fine,” said Loki, “are you?”

 

Parker rubbed the tops of his arms, “Yeah, thought you were going to break my arm there at one point, though, gotta watch your grip, bro.”

 

“I’m sorry,” said Loki, genuinely regretful, “let me see?”

 

“No, it’ll be fine,” said Parker, dismissing him with his hand, “bruises, that’s all, we should probably get home, but let’s give it half an hour just to be safe.”

 

“Alright,” said Loki, “but I think we need to find a better way of patrolling, that was a close call.”

 

“Think he was looking for us?” he asked.

 

“There’s no way to be sure,” said Loki, “he could have just been passing by, but I’d rather not find out by being dragged to Avengers tower and thrown into some kind of cell.”

 

“Yeah, pretty guys like us don’t do well in jail,” said Parker.

 

x-x-x

 

Loki was waiting for Parker on the roof of his building, tapping the side of his foot with his staff, impatiently.    

 

Even though they’d had another close call with Iron Man, and were trying to lay low, Loki was counting down the days until Parker returned to school.

 

Without being able to follow him about all day and keep an eye on him, Loki was stuck in his building during the daylight hours with nothing to do, and he was beginning to go a little stir-crazy. 

 

Parker had already been by his building earlier, dropping him off a plate of hot food, then explaining he had an errand to run for his aunt and would return within the hour, so he could take his time with his meal.

 

Loki had long since finished his food and left the plate in the usual plate he left these things so that Parker could return the used ones to his aunts house and she wouldn’t be wondering where all of her crockery was disappearing to and then went up onto the roof to wait for Parker.

 

The kid was a little overdue on his estimate of an hour, but Loki wasn’t in a huge rush to get back onto the streets, in fact if asked he would have probably consented for them taking a few weeks off, letting the heat die down, giving Stark a chance to forget about them a little bit before venturing out again.  As long as he still got to spend his evenings with Parker so he would have someone to talk to and not go slowly insane cooped up in his building alone, he thought it would be just fine.

 

He spotted Parker as he swung into view and dropped down onto the roof, holding something in his hand, some kind of black object.  Loki peered at it curiously, normally if Parker had to carry stuff about, aside from Loki of course, he’d wear a back pack, so he didn’t drop things, which could only mean he’d only just acquired this particular item.

 

Parker spoke in a sing-song voice as he swung the black box in front of Loki’s face, “Look-at-what-I-got-us.”

 

Loki cocked his head and sighed, “Am I supposed to know what that is?”

 

“Dude, it’s a police radio,” said Parker, “I liberated it from a cop car that had the window down.  Got it on my way back over here.”

 

“Liberated?”

 

“Alright, I stole it, happy, _Mom_?” said Parker.

 

“Oh, so if I suggest stealing, I’m sorry, _liberating_ , food and clothing then you’re all Mr Moral-High-Ground,” said Loki, “but if you steal from the police, then it’s perfectly fine and acceptable?”

 

“Totally different,” said Parker, turning a knob on the top of the radio, “we can use this to listen in on police traffic, gets a heads up if people might need our help somewhere, maybe if either Iron Man or the Avengers are out and about, they might talk about it and we’ll know what areas to avoid.”

 

Loki pressed his lips into a thin line, then realised that Parker might have a point, “Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try it out.  Everywhere is looking particularly rowdy tonight, we could be in for a busy evening.”

 

“Well, Puck, it’s New Years Eve,” said Parker, “New Years in New York?  If we get a five minute cigarette break we’ll be lucky.”

 

“We don’t smoke,” he said.

 

“Doesn’t mean we’re not entitled to the break,” said Parker, tossing Loki the radio.  “Here, you can hang onto it.”

 

“Why me?” said Loki, “You’re the one who stole it, and I have to carry my broom handle and hold onto you half the time too.”

 

Parker cocked his head, Loki couldn’t read his expression through the mask, but Parker moved his hands down himself, patting his skin tight costume, “And where exactly do you think I should put it?  I don’t have any hammer space you know, and I gotta carry you.  You’ve got pockets in your outfit, use them.”

 

“Alright, but if it falls out and lands on someone’s head, you’re getting the blame,” said Loki, he noticed that there was a clip on the back of the radio so he hooked it onto the waistband of his trousers.  “Parker…”  he wanted to ask about New Years Eve, it wasn’t something completely foreign to him, the celebration for the turning of a new calendar went back years in time, but he had the feeling that the type of celebrating had probably changed somewhat, “tonight, how likely is it, do you think, that it’ll be bad enough out there for the Avengers to venture out?”

 

“I don’t think we should worry about it,” said Parker, “I mean, we’ve been keeping our heads low, staying off their turf.  Aside from seeing Iron Man, and we don’t even know what he was doing, that could have been his evening stroll, we generally don’t see or hear about them dealing with the day to day shit that we deal with.  I doubt we’ll see any of them.  They’ve probably got some huge glamorous New Years party to attend, Tony Stark will no doubt attempting to drink the city dry, if the papers are to be believed.”

 

“I suppose you’re correct,” he said, “and we have this radio now, so if there’s a big mess, we might hear about them coming first.”

 

“Yeah,” said Parker, giving him a shoulder bump with his fist.  “Besides they only tend to come out guns a blazing for the really big stuff.  Like when that maniac brought all those aliens into the city and tried to take over the world.  You weren’t under your rock during that were you?”

 

Loki could practically hear Parker smirking beneath his mask.  Oh, if he only knew.

 

“No, I was there,” said Loki. 

 

“See,” said Parker, “it’ll probably be bar fights and muggings and shit tonight.  We’ll be busy, but everything will be fine.  You’ll see, nothing’s going to go disastrously wrong.”

 

x-x-x

 

**_Four hours later…._ **

 

“You just had to open your big mouth, didn’t you, Parker?”


	9. Chapter 9

** Chapter Nine **

 

It was quite possibly their busiest evening since they had began working together, and they really couldn’t classify it as ‘patrol’ as they weren’t acting as an extra helping hand, they were so busy they might as well have headed to the police station and demanded their fair share of the coffee and doughnuts.

 

Normally city bars and pubs had their own bouncers to deal with brawling customers, but with the increased numbers on the streets, the increased amounts of alcohol that had been consumed, it seemed that the people were more out to have a good fight than to actually enjoy their evenings. 

 

They’d heard several reports over the newly acquired police radio of full blown street fights and they’d rushed in, lending assistance, separating people, Parker subduing a couple with webbing where necessary until police could pick them up and put them in the drunk tank for the night. 

 

They had to get out as fast as they got in, because the revellers noting their presence was drawing a lot of attention their way, so as soon as a fight had been stopped, they’d move on quickly, and go to the next place they were needed. 

 

They’d been at it for a few hours, when strange things started happening.  All around them peoples phones were going off constantly with text message tones and phone calls, and they’d just exchanged a look when the radio began to explode with chatter. 

 

“ALL UNITS, ALL UNITS, SUSPECTED TERRORIST ATTACK IN PROGRESS, MADISON AVENUE -” the radio exploded with information, the national guard had been summoned, something was attacking people in the streets, they were trying to evacuate, rescue and defend all at the same time. 

 

“Madison avenue is right around the block from the Avengers Tower,” said Parker, looking at Loki, and though he couldn’t see his face through the mask, he knew exactly what expression it bore. 

 

“Then it’s their turf,” said Loki, “they can handle it.  People are going to start panicking and trying to escape the city en masse, we’d be better off running crowd control.”

 

“What if they need help?” said Parker.  Damn him and his morals.  “What if it’s like last time?  What if they are facing an army?”

 

“They have the Hulk,” said Loki, knowing all too well how effective the giant green monster was in battle, “they have Iron Man, and the have SHIELD forces behind them, you’re a boy with web shooters and I have a broom handle.  I think they have the situation in hand.”

 

“What’s SHIELD?”

 

Shit.

 

“You know, Parker, the one with the shield, the one who was in the army, whatever his name is,” he said. 

 

“Well it might not be enough,” said Parker. 

 

Double shit. 

 

Loki knew exactly where this was going.  They were at the opposite end of the park, just about as close as Loki liked to get to the tower, and he was positive, that whatever it was, even without his brother to aid them, the Avengers could handle it.

 

“Parker, please,” said Loki, “we have no idea what we could be walking into.”

 

“If you don’t want to come, it’s fine,” said Parker, “but I’m going to at least see if they need my help.”

 

Parker broke into a sprint and leapt off the edge of the building, and fighting every self preservation instinct within him, Loki jumped after him, in one motion clipping the radio to his waistband and making sure he had a firm grip on the broom handle, whilst launching himself over the side of the roof. 

 

To his relief, Parker caught him mid-swing, and Loki quickly transferred himself to a position where he could hold on without interfering with Parker’s web slinging. 

 

“I knew you wouldn’t abandon me,” said Parker.

 

“If this ends with us both being carted off to be interrogated at Avengers tower, I’m blaming you,” said Loki. 

 

Parker moved quickly, taking them on the most direct route, forgoing back streets that they might have taken since they’d been laying low.  As they drew closer they could see more people running, trying to get away, sirens growing louder, more police cars came into view, then finally they reached Madison Avenue and the entire block was in chaos. 

 

They landed on a roof top and saw that the police were providing cover fire for the Avengers, who were battling with a horde of black metal robots who were trying to tear up the city.  It appeared to Loki that the police just managing to hold their line,  but they were on the verge of being pushed further back, and robots were attempting to slip out into the bigger parts of the city. 

 

“There’s no way we can handle this,” said Loki looking at the sight below them, “this is out of our capabilities.  I don’t have enough magic to be able to help.  Let’s just…  let’s just help people get out of the way, come on, Parker.”

 

He looked at the boy and he was clenching his fists.

 

“No,” he said, “no, not again, not now, not in my city, I’m not going to stand back and do nothing when I can help.  It’s my responsibility.”

 

Loki grabbed Parker by the shoulders, “No, Parker, not this, this is too much, we can’t help with this.  You are _my_ responsibility and I’m not going to let you put yourself in that much danger.”

 

“I thought you were here during that alien attack,” Parker spat at him.

 

“I…  I was,” said Loki.

 

“Then you should remember what it was like, you should remember the people screaming, six people against an entire army,” said Parker, pointing down to the chaos, “we _need_ to help.  Every second we stand here, another innocent person might be getting caught in the firing line.  You have some big secret you don’t trust me with, some stupid thing you did in your past and you’re trying to make up for, DO THIS.  Help them.  Help the city.  Help me.”

 

Parker broke away from Loki’s hold and prepared to jump, Loki grabbed his wrist, “WAIT,” he said.  Parker stopped and looked at him.  “Not right into the battle,” Loki pointed to where the police were falling back and firing wildly and then to across the street where they could drop into the block and there was an empty space, “if we drop straight in we’ll both just get shot, get us over to there and we can approach from behind that group and maybe take out a few of them.”

 

“Alright,” said Parker nodding his head.

 

Loki tightened his grip, “But if I tell you to get out of there, you go, with or without me, do you understand?”

 

“What?”

 

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

 

“Yes,” said Parker, “you tell me to get out, I get out, I got it.”

 

Loki loosened his grip and hopped onto Parker’s back and he launched them over the side, swinging around the robots and shooting to the building which Loki had pointed out, dropping them down onto the ground. 

 

Loki gripped the broom handle tightly, wishing that he had Gungnir instead.  The Avengers were holding their own, but they were farther down and away from them, he and Parker had to deal with the robots which were attacking the police. 

 

“You just had to open your big mouth, didn’t you, Parker?” said Loki, “ _it’ll be fine,_ you said, _bar fights and muggings_ you said.  You utter _tool_.”

 

“Come on,” said Parker, pulling Loki by the arm, towards a group of three robots which seemed to be attempting to make a charge at the police cars. 

 

“This is such a stupid plan,” said Loki, trying to work out in his head whether or not they’d allow his body to be returned to Asgard or if they’d remove his head and display it on the city walls for the pigeons to peck out his eyeballs and children to spit at him.

 

“HEY,” Parker shouted at the robots, pointing his finger at them as they turned to see he and Loki stood behind them, “I think you guys are lost, the Wizard of Oz convention is this way.”

 

The robots charged them.  Loki took a couple of steps back to balance himself, “Parker, if we live through this, I’m going to kill you,” he said.

 

Parker flipped himself over the heads of two of the robots, confusing them and before they could turn he shot webbing onto both their heads and clashed them together, though this only slowed them down for a moment. 

 

Loki used his staff to vault himself, and kicked his feet into the face of the third robot, denting it but not stopping it. 

 

Parker spun more webbing but the arms he had bound were quickly broken free and he flipped himself around again, trying to gain a little high ground by moving to an overturned car. 

 

The robot which Loki was fighting swung for him, and he shot out his staff to block the blow, and it cracked instantly, breaking into two pieces.  Loki quickly dropped the part he’d been holding, abandoning it and blocking the next blow with his arm, which was far more effective. 

 

Loki shot out his hands, grabbing the robot either side of it’s head, and he twisted and yanked, pulling it clean off, and the machine dropped to the ground. 

 

Loki tossed the head, running to help Parker who was ducking and dodging blows from two robots who had pushed him off the upturned car and was now fighting in the centre of the road. 

 

“Take off their heads!” said Loki, ducking gunfire as he ran. 

 

“Like zombies, I got it!” shouted Parker, kicking one of the robots in the chest, knocking it to the ground.

 

Loki grabbed the standing robot, around the neck with one hand, and pushed down on it’s shoulder with the other, pulling and pushing, the head wrenched off and as the body dropped, he saw Parker give him a thumbs up, but behind him the other robot was on his feet again and he raised a metal boot and brought it down on the back of Parker’s calf, causing Parker to drop to his knees and scream in agony.

 

“PARKER!” yelled Loki, he grabbed the third robot by it’s head and put his foot against its chest, pulling the head off in one swift movement and then tossing it aside.  He moved quickly to Parker who was laying on the floor on his side, holding his leg. 

 

Loki looked around, there were more robots fighting with the police and near the Avengers, more seemed to be heading their way.  There was a side street between buildings, he had to get Parker out of there.  He hooked one arm under his shoulders and the other under his legs, ignoring the screams of pain and carried him quickly into the side street, going as far down as he could, though it was a dead end, he carefully set Parker down in a doorway.

 

“Move your hands, let me see,” said Loki, grabbing Parkers wrists and trying to pry them away from his leg, Parker was too strong for his own good.  “ _Peter_ , let me see.”

 

“It hurts!” said Parker, balling his hands into fists, moving them to let Loki see the damage.

 

“Shit,” said Loki, seeing how bad it was, Parker’s shin bone was sticking through the material of his Spider-man outfit, he really needed to get Parker out of there, there was no way he was going to let him continue the fight after this.  He grabbed Parkers mask and pulled it off his head, “Open your mouth,” Parker complied and Loki shoved the mask inside as a gag.  “Bite down on your mask, not on your tongue, sorry this is going to hurt.”

 

Loki placed one hand on the back of Parkers leg and the other on the bone which was protruding through his skin, and pushed hard, pushing it back inside his leg.  Parker screamed.  Tears streamed down his face, and he tried to grab his leg again, sobbing.  Loki batted his hands away and pulled the mask from his mouth.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m sorry, I know it hurts, I’m going to fix what I can, ok?  Put your mask back on, just in case.”

 

Parker complied, biting his lip as he pulled his mask back over his face.  Loki was glad that he couldn’t see the tears anymore.  Parker was just a boy, it was so easy to forget that, just a boy.  This was his fault, he should have dragged Parker back home by his ear, not allowed him to join in a fight he was not equipped for.  They should have watched for a little longer, observed the strength, they ran in without thinking and Loki should have known better. 

 

All his fault.  Even when he was trying to do the right thing, he ended up making a mess of things.

 

He carefully placed his hands over the wound, as gingerly as he could, he closed his eyes, concentrating hard, the break was bad, and the flesh damage must have been causing Parker real agony, but if he just had enough magic to heal the bone, he could save the rest and they could get out of there and deal with the flesh later. 

 

He held his breath, seeing the break in his minds eye, pulling as much magic out of his body as he could and knitting Parkers bone back together, trying not to break his concentration as Parker whimpered in pain. 

 

Once the bone was repaired, Loki let go, taking several deep breaths, sitting back and trying to regain his composure. 

 

“That’s the best I can do,” he said, “we need to get you out of here.”

 

Loki stood to his feet, a little shakily, but he wasn’t as bad as the last time he’d pushed himself, it hadn’t been held for as long and he would probably be fine in five or ten minutes. 

 

He held out his hand and Parker took it, Loki pulled him up and hooked his arm over his shoulders, so he could test his leg on the ground and put his weight on Loki.

 

“The bone’s repaired,” said Loki, “see how it feels now, we need to get you out of here.”

 

Parker put his foot on the floor, “Hurt’s like a bitch, but I’ll cope.”

 

“HEY!”

 

They both looked up simultaneously.  The soldier.  Captain America stood at the end of the street, pointing his finger at them, advancing.

 

Loki unhooked Parkers arm from his shoulder and pushed him behind him, “GET OUT OF HERE!”

 

“But-” Parker began.

 

“YOU AGREED!  GET OUT OF HERE, GO!  GET TO SAFETY!”

 

Loki heard a web shooter behind him, and felt Parker’s presence disappear, Rogers looked up, his eyes following the movement into the air, but Loki moved towards him, capturing his attention.

 

“Leave him,” said Loki, “he’s hurt, leave him.”

 

“What are you doing here?” said Rogers, making a move to grab Loki’s hoodie, but he dodged the grasping fingers, backing himself further into the dead end. 

 

“Helping,” said Loki.

 

Rogers could drag him back to the tower if he wanted to try, but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.  He didn’t need magic or a weapon to cave the soldiers skull into powder, he could do that with his own two hands.

 

“Well either join the fight or go help your friend and get out of here,” said Rogers, “you’re helping no one stood there.”

 

With that, Rogers turned his back on Loki and ran back into the main street to rejoin the fight.  Rogers hadn’t realised who he was.  He hadn’t recognised him.    

 

He let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding and looked up, Parker wasn’t in danger now, he would know if he was.  If he knew what was good for him he’d be web slinging his way back home this second, back to his aunt, back to safety. 

 

Loki had two options.  Scale the wall of the building, find a way down the other side, fight his way through the robots and police and then run all the way back to Parker’s house and make sure he was ok, or run into the street and help the Avengers take out the remaining robots and then get back to Parker as quickly as he could. 

 

Parker’s words echoed in his head, ‘ _Help them, help the city, help me.’_

 

Loki made his choice.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:  oops, wrong chapter, fixed now**

 

** Chapter Ten **

 

They were knee deep in attack bots and fuck knew where they had come from.  Hulk was doing a good job of ripping them apart and keeping them contained, Steve was holding his own, Tasha was largely distracting them and pulling them back where she could, to stop them from spreading and trying to draw them back into the main melee as shooting them had proved to be largely ineffective.  Barton wasn’t really helping all that much. 

 

Tony flew up in a straight spiral, and grabbed Barton by the back of his jacket from his position and moved him to a window ledge on the opposite side of the street as three bots in broken pieces crashed into where he’d been perched. 

 

“Barton, you’re about as much use as a _handbrake_ on a canoe,” said Tony, dropping him into a new position, “haven’t you got more explosive arrow heads?”

“I _am_ using the explosive ones!” shouted Barton as Tony flew back down towards the fight.

 

“Then make them more _explodey_ ,” said Tony through the coms. 

 

He swept down and grabbed a bot that had been making a break for the cops at their end of the street and stood on it’s shoulders, and grabbed the head, ripping it off and shooting back up again. 

 

Hulk roared at a crowd of bots that were gunning for him, grabbing two at a time in each hand and pummelling them onto the ground, smashing them into pieces before grabbing another set. 

 

Tony spotted something moving in the air, “Shit, can they fly too- wait,” he grimaced inside his helmet, “oh fan-fucking-tastic, absolutely _typical_ , don’t worry people, Abbot and Costello are here to save the day.”

 

“What are you talking about, Tony?” asked Tasha through the coms.

 

Tony banked and smashed a bot into a wall, crushing its head, “Spider-thing and Shadey-guy have turned up.”

 

_Of all the fucking times they had to appear, they appear NOW, when I’m too busy to chase after them.  Bastards._

 

“Well as long as they stay out of the way,” said Steve as he used his shield to behead another bot, “leave them to it, it’s their own fault if they get themselves in trouble.”

 

“Gee, and I thought you were Mrs Mary Sunshine, Cap,” said Tasha as she led two bots into Tony’s range and he fired his pulsars at the two the blast back taking out two more in the process.

 

“We’re not here to be babysitters,” said Tony, finding himself on Steve’s side for a change.  “We can’t take all of these things out, and look after a couple of amateurs at the same time.”

 

Tony turned his attention away from the newcomers and helped Tasha beat back a wave that were coming for her.  After he’d caved in yet another metal skull, he glanced around, trying to guess how many more they had left to take down.

 

“Jarvis, can you give me some numbers?” he asked grabbing a stray that had been climbing the side of the building towards Barton and tossing the bot in Hulks direction.

 

“Calculating, Sir,” said Jarvis taking a second to estimate the numbers, “approximately 57 remaining, Sir.”

 

“Good news, boys,” said Tony, “we can knock off early, there’s only a handful left.”

 

“Doesn’t feel like a handful,” said Tasha, dodging a charging bot and sliding on the ground between Hulk’s legs so he could grab it.

 

“TONY!” shouted Steve, “those two kids, the little one’s hurt!”

 

“Kinda busy here, Steve,” said Tony picking up two bots from the ground and smashing them into a wall, “you get a minute, you go kiss his boo-boo better.  Besides I thought, ‘it’s their own fault’ - you soon changed your tune.”

 

Tony got back on the ground, grabbing a bot that was trying to slip through their line, out of the corner of his eye he saw Steve fight his way through a group of bots, and heading towards a side street where the two non Avengers had presumably headed.

 

“Fucking boy scout,” said Tony.

 

“You’re still on coms,” said Tasha.

 

“I know,” said Tony, “he was _supposed_ to hear that.”

 

Tony flew up high with the bot in his hands and then dropped it from on height onto a couple of the metal machines that had reached a police cordon.  By the time he banked down he saw Steve emerging again, running directly towards a group of bots, Tony rose his fist in order to fire at one that had slipped by Steve and was making it’s way to the opposite end that they’d been fighting at, when Shadow ran out of the side street.  He ran directly at it and launched himself onto it’s back, putting his feet on it’s shoulders he ripped the bots head off with his bare hands and back flipped off again. 

 

“Fuck,” said Tony a little breathlessly, this guy had to be strong. 

 

Tony was about to fly over him and lift up into the air and bring him into the main fight, when Shadow ran off in the opposite direction to the fighting.  Tony narrowed his eyes, banking down and as Shadow rounded the corner, Tony banked after him, about to start chewing him out for abandoning the fighting when he saw the man in the centre of a fight with seven robots surrounding him. 

 

“How’d those fuckers get past us?” said Tony, to himself, then ignoring the subsequent questions that came pouring over the com lines from the others asking what he was talking about.  “I wasn’t talking to you lot, shut up!  Jesus, a guy can’t have a quiet word with himself with you guys around.”

 

Tony blasted two of the bots to pieces, but the Shadow was fighting them hand to hand, dealing blows strong enough to dent their metal casing, and easily blocking and dodging blows the bots were trying to deal him.  He was ducking and weaving so well and quickly Tony didn’t know where to fire. 

 

It was both fascinating and impressive, Tony wondered if this guy could take _him_ on, even with the fire power built into his suit, he reckoned there could be quite a lot of damage taken on his part.

 

Shadow jumped onto one bot, yanked it’s head off and flipped himself backwards, using the removed head to crush the head of a second bot.  Tony used the break in movement to fire off a couple more shots, and closed in, grabbing one that was going for Shadow from behind and crushing it into the ground, while Shadow ripped the head off the remaining bot. 

 

The man turned towards Tony and he expected to see a look of gratitude on what he could see of his face, but instead he scowled at Tony.

 

“That one was mine,” he said.

 

Tony lifted himself into the air and grabbed Shadow’s body armour vest from behind and lifted him up, ignore his legs kicking in the air as Tony flew them up and higher, bringing them around the corner and back to the main fight. 

 

“Jarvis, how many?” asked Tony.

 

“Approximately 25, Sir,” said the computer. 

 

“Here you go, Sparky,” said Tony, dropping Shadow down on the ground near Tasha and a group of four bots that were closing in on her, “have fun.”

 

Tony weaved off and crashed into a group of three, knocking them onto the ground and then blasting them whilst they were down, taking their heads clean off. 

 

The rest of the fight passed quickly, Tony blasted, Steve beheaded, Hulk smashed, Barton appeared to have found more useful arrows as a couple zipped past Tony’s helmet mid flight and actually took out a couple of the bots when they met their target and exploded.  Tasha led strays, and Shadow jumped around like a wild thing, punching, kicking and ripping off heads. 

 

When the last bot had been disposed of they naturally moved together, coming forward into a circle, looking around them to make sure that the last of the bots had been taken out.  Tony noticed that Shadow was constantly looking over his shoulder, not moving from his position over a dismantled bot, putting as much distance as he could between him and Hulk. 

 

Tony couldn’t blame him that much, if he didn’t know how much control Bruce had when he forced the change himself, he’d be afraid of Hulk too. 

 

“Hey,” said Tony, beckoning him over with his hand, “it’s ok, the big guy mostly directs his friendly fire at Point Break, and he ain’t here.”

 

Shadow glanced up at Tony, then bolted, beating his feet on the concrete at full pelt, trying to get as far away from them as he could. 

 

Tony looked at the others and sighed, “Twitchy little fucker, ain’t he?”

 

Tony casually flew after him, easily catching up and grabbing him by the back of his body armour again, “I’ll meet you all back at the tower,” said Tony over the coms. 

 

Shadow kicked his legs wildly into the air as Tony lifted him, trying to free himself of his grasp, “Let me go!” he shouted at Tony, despite the fact that they were now flying high above rooftops, over Madison to Park, heading straight for the platform of Avengers tower.

 

“Will you stop that?” said Tony, “if I drop you and you land on something that belongs to the city they’ll bill me.”

 

Tony rose higher into the sky, but the kicks and screams at him to let go did not stop, he half considered dropping Shadow as soon as he reached the platform, but he was so twitchy he didn’t trust that he wouldn’t just jump off it, splatter damage be damned, so instead he flew directly inside the building, Jarvis opening the doors for him on approach and didn’t drop him until they were inside and Tony put his own two feet on the ground. 

 

He raised the visor on his helmet and then raised his hands in the air, “Just chill the fuck out, will you?” said Tony, “I’m not going to hurt you, relax.”

 

“Let me go then,” said Shadow, his fists were clenched at his sides, his hood drawn forward, leaving only a scowl in view. 

 

“We need to have a little chat first,” said Tony, moving behind the bar, fishing out a bottle he’d stashed away from Bruce and putting two glasses on the counter, “drink?”

 

Shadow twitched so badly at that Tony thought he was able to make a dash for the platform. 

 

“What’s wrong?  Is it your brother?” said Tony, pouring out two measures anyway, “He was with you.  Did he get hurt?”

 

Tony watched the expression change, for a second the scowl changed into a look of shock, his lips parted and mouth opened slightly, then it flattened out into a line.

 

“Yes,” said Shadow at last, “he was hurt, I told him to get out of there.”

 

“So you’re twitching like a crack addict because you want to make sure he’s ok?” said Tony, “I get it, it’s ok.  You want to check on him, it’s totally natural.”

 

The Shadow said nothing, he simply squeezed his fists, his hood facing slightly towards the platform.

 

“You’re his big brother, right?” said Tony.

 

“Yes,” said Shadow.

 

“I could tell,” said Tony, “only child myself, but I’ve known some brothers, they can have complicated relationships.  If I was a betting man, oh who am I kidding?  Ok, I’m a _betting_ man, and if I had to make a bet, I’d say that joining in that little skirmish was his idea, not yours, right?  He’s the one who wants to be out there all the time and you follow after him to make sure he doesn’t get hurt and right now you’re putting yourself through hell because he did.”

 

Shadow said nothing. 

 

“What’s your name?” asked Tony.

 

“Shadow,” he said.

 

“What’s your real name?” asked Tony, picking up the glasses and walking towards him offering one out. 

 

Shadow looked between the glasses, well, Tony assumed he looked between the glasses because the hood obscured his eyes, then he reached out with a pale hand, grabbing one, knocking back the contents and handing Tony back the glass.

 

“None of your fucking business,” said Shadow. 

 

Tony grinned at him, “I’m Tony Stark.”

 

“I know,” he said, “everyone knows.”

 

“Yes, but it’s polite to introduce yourself,” said Tony.  He waited, Shadow remained close lipped.  “Really not going to tell me your name?”

 

“Just leave us alone,” said Shadow, “we just want to be left alone.”

 

“Well you kinda screwed the pooch on that one, cupcake,” said Tony, knocking back his own drink and then taking the glasses back to the bar to refill them.  “The second you guys stepped onto the street wearing Halloween costumes, you should have known there would be interested parties.”

 

“We’re not interested in joining your party,” said Shadow.

 

“I didn’t say that _we_ were the party that were interested,” said Tony.  He noticed that Shadow flinched again at that, he attention firmly drawn towards the platform now, “Hey, you might be strong, but don’t think about it, it’s a long way down, and if your little brother had to go back home, there’s going to be nobody to catch you.”

 

Against his better judgement, Tony deactivated his suit and stepped out of it, to show Shadow that if he suddenly decided to go on a flying routine, he wouldn’t be chasing after him again. 

 

“You two have caught the attention of some pretty powerful people,” said Tony continuing, “no one knows what you guys are about, you’re the flavour of the month and everyone is just dying for a taste.”

 

“What do you want from me?” asked Shadow.

 

“Well it’s up to you,” said Tony, “you can make the choice.  I’m not going to chase you down, but these other guys, they probably will.  The way I see it you’ve got two options, tomorrow, because I can see how twitchy you are right now, you two come in for an informal chat with me and tell me what you guys are all about.  If I think you’re not a public nuisance,” - at that Shadow made a sound which sounded distinctly like a snort, Tony chose to ignore it - “then I’ll pass on the information and we’ll leave you be.  If you don’t come to talk to me, then the other guys will come and talk to you themselves, and trust me, they don’t offer coffee and cookies when they want to talk to somebody.”

 

Shadow seemed to consider this.  He stayed silent for a full sixty seconds and just as Tony was about to speak again, Shadow broke the silence. 

 

“I’ll come in,” he said. 

 

“Excellent,” said Tony, “think you two can drop in around three thirty?”

 

“No,” said Shadow, “just me.  The boy stays out of this.”

 

“I’m going to want to talk to both of you,” said Tony.

 

“I’ll tell you want you want to know,” said Shadow, “within reason, but just me.”

 

“Why?” said Tony, “surely he doesn’t need you to pull his pants on for him in the morning, he can answer a few questions.”

 

“I’m protecting him,” said Shadow, “it’s just me or neither of us.”

 

Tony pursed his lips, but he supposed that if he could get Shadow talking, he might be persuaded, once he saw that Tony had only good intentions, to allow his little brother to be interviewed.  Either way, he could get Fury off his back, and he could decide whether or not SHIELD needed to further assess them, of if he could offer them a probation period.

 

“Alright,” said Tony, “deal.”

 

The elevator pinged, they both turned their heads, the doors slid open and Tony saw Bruce, with a new pair of pants on, and pulling a vest over his head.

 

“There you are,” said Bruce, “where the hell have you-”

 

Shadow bolted.  He ran instantly for the platform the second that he had clocked Bruce and ran.

 

“WAIT, STOP,” shouted Tony, “IT’S OK, HE’S NOT HULK, HE’S NOT GOING TO-”

 

Shadow was out onto the platform and before Tony had ran four steps he’d flung himself over the edge.

 

“NO!”  shouted Tony.

 

He and Bruce moved at the same time, running out onto the platform, in time to see that Shadow had not free fallen and gone splat onto the pavement below, but was being swung through the air.  A red and blue blur dipped, and the swung up again, and they were swinging from building to building, Shadow clinging onto the Spider-boy’s back. 

 

“Dammit,” said Tony.

 

“It’s ok,” said Bruce, putting his hand on Tony’s shoulder, “he doesn’t know me, he probably just freaked.  Not everyone is like you, Tony, not everyone gets that Bruce and Hulk aren’t the same guy.”

 

“Yeah, but,” said Tony, “Jesus, jumping from this height?  He must have known his brother was out there waiting for him.  I mean who the hell would be crazy enough to jump otherwise?”

 

“They’re brothers?” said Bruce, “when did you find this out?”

 

“Oh, I heard them talking the other day when I saw them,” said Tony, “confirmed it tonight.”

 

“Alright,” said Bruce, giving him a good natured pat on the shoulder, “you can have one more drink, since you earned it, and you can tell me what he said.”

 

“One more drink?” said Tony leaning his head against Bruce’s shoulder and grinning at him, “you’re so good to me.”

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

** Chapter Eleven **

 

Loki was in free fall. 

_Hello pavement, you beautiful thing, I’m coming, getting closer, in a choice between you and being torn apart by the monster, you will win every time._

 

He braced himself, covering his face with his arms, tensing his body, oh this was going to hurt, but the pain never came.  His body was snatched from the air, he was caught by a strong arm and just as he thought that Stark had put his suit back on after all, he opened his eyes to see a familiar blue and red outfit.  They dropped in the air a little as Parker threw up a new web, and Loki quickly adjusted himself to his usual position mid-swing, before Parker would have to create a new web rope. 

 

After a few streets Parker switched from the main thoroughfare to the side roads and the entire journey was spent in a complete, uncomfortable silence until they reached Loki’s building and Parker practically threw him through the window, where he landed on his hip with a thud. 

 

Loki sat for a moment and then picked himself up, turning to face Parker, about to launch into a tirade at him for not going home when he told him to and putting himself in danger, when he saw that Parker had removed his mask and was glaring at him furiously.  He was balancing on his injured leg on his tip toe, trying to keep the weight off it.

 

Just as he was about to ask him what he was looking at him like that for, Parker drew back his arm and punched Loki square on the jaw, the strength and shock of it knocked Loki onto his arse, and he held his jaw shocked, looking up at Parker, not sure if he wanted to pick himself up again, eventually deciding to stand to his two feet because it would make it a lot easier to strangle Parker to death. 

 

Again, just as Loki was about to speak, Parker launched himself at him, grabbing him by the neck of his hoodie, and shaking him so hard the hood fell back. 

 

“Don’t you ever, _EVER_ , pull a stunt like that again,” said Parker, so angry his whole body was shaking.

 

“What are you-”

 

“You didn’t know I was there!” said Parker, “You jumped and you didn’t know I was there!”

 

“Yes,” said Loki, there was no point in lying, “I didn’t know you were there.”

 

“WHY?” said Parker, shaking him again, “What the _hell_ did they do to you so that you jumped?  From that height?  You would have been killed!”

 

“I…  It was what they _might_ have done,” said Loki, “I was happier with the prospect of facing the pavement.”

 

“NEVER AGAIN!” said Parker, “DO YOU _FUCKING_ HEAR ME?  NEVER AGAIN!”

 

“I _TOLD_ YOU TO GO,” said Loki, suddenly furious himself, no one spoke to a Prince of Asgard that way, Parker shouldn’t even have been there.  “I TOLD YOU TO GET AWAY AND YOU IGNORED ME, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT!”

 

“YOU WOULD HAVE _DIED_!” shouted Parker, “YOU WOULD HAVE DIED IF I HADN’T BEEN THERE!”

 

“I KNOW!” shouted Loki, “THAT’S _WHY_ I JUMPED!”

 

Parker released his grip, his eyes welling, and staring directly into Loki’s, “What did you do?” he asked, “Tell me, Puck, please.  Just tell me, just _trust_ me.  What did you do that was so bad, that it makes you act this way?  That makes you so scared of the Avengers that you jumped from the top of their building?”

 

“I…” said Loki, “I can’t tell you, Parker.”

 

“Why not?” said Parker, pleading.  “Why can’t you tell me?  Why can’t you just _trust_ me?”

 

“Because,” said Loki, “you’ll hate me.”

 

“No, I-”

 

“Yes,” said Loki, “yes, you will.  You’ll hate me Parker.”

 

“So you’d rather die?”

 

“Yes,” said Loki, realising this himself as he said it, “I’d rather die.”

 

“Stupid, _fucking_ , moron,” said Parker, then he put his arms around Loki, hugging him tightly. 

 

Loki breathed, and put his own arms around Parker, hugging him back.  “You’re my only friend,” said Loki, “you’re the only friend I’ve ever had.  I’ve just realised how important it is to me, and now it’s too late because tomorrow…  Tomorrow…  tomorrow I’m going away for a long time.  I don’t think I’ll ever see you again.”

 

Parker drew back, angrily running his hands through his hair, looking at Loki, shaking his head, “Tell me what’s happening.  Tell me what’s going on.”

 

“They want to talk to me,” said Loki, “and when they do, they will probably realise who I am, then I’ll be locked away.”

 

“Then run,” said Parker, “ _run_ , I’ll help you get away.”

 

“If I run,” said Loki, “they’ll start looking for you.  Tony Stark is not a complete buffoon, he has the means to be able to track you, figure out who you are.”

 

“So you’re just going to hand yourself over to protect me?” said Parker bitterly, “why?”

 

“Because you saved my life,” said Loki, “I owe you a life debt.”

 

“I’ll cancel it.”

 

“It doesn’t work that way.”

 

“Then I’m going with you.”

 

“NO!” said Loki, grabbing him by the shirt of his costume, “If you go with me, no amount of persuasion will convince them that you did not know my true identity.  They will lock you away with me, and trust me, you will not last as long as I will.”

 

“Let.  Me.  Help. _You_ ,” said Parker, gripping his hands to Loki’s forearms.

 

“I can’t,” said Loki, “it will destroy you.  I destroy everything.  Everything I touch turns to ashes.  I will not allow myself to become the source of your destruction, I am supposed to be protecting you.”

 

“You could walk away from all of this,” said Parker, “you’re just making excuses, you could save yourself.  Forget me and just go, I don’t have to be Spider-man anymore, I can lock him away, I can’t see you be taken away and locked up in some prison for the rest of your life.  You’ve helped people, you’ve saved people, you’ve helped _me_ , no one forced you to do any of it, you chose to do this, _you_ decided.  _You_.  No one can take that away from you, no matter what was in the past, that has to count for something, so either you leave now, _tonight_ , get out of the city and hide someplace where they’ll never find you, or I am coming with you tomorrow.”

 

“I won’t allow it,” said Loki, “I’m not dragging you down with me.  I owe you my life, I can’t destroy yours to return the favour.”

 

“We are in this _together_ ,” said Parker, “the day we met I invited you into my life and I’m not going to let you throw yourself to the wolves for me, no, not going to happen.”

 

“I don’t have a choice,” said Loki, “if I flee, I leave you to them, if I go to them alone, then I will be able to convince them you knew nothing and they won’t lock you away forever.”

 

 _Damn sentiment_.

 

“Go fuck yourself,” said Parker, and he moved his arm, shooting a web at the cowl and yanking it off Loki’s head.

 

“No!” said Loki, turning, covering his face, he still had the domino mask glued in place beneath the cowl, providing him with partial cover.  “I won’t let you do this.”

 

“Take the domino off,” said Parker behind him.

 

“No,” said Loki shaking his head, “I won’t.”

 

“What’s the point?” said Parker, “if you’re heading to your doom tomorrow and I’m never going to see you again, what’s the point of hiding yourself?”

 

“So that I can go with the knowledge that I had a friend,” said Loki, “but maybe you’re right.  Because I was fooling myself to think that _I_ could ever have a friend.”

 

“ _I am_ your friend,” said Parker, and he saw Parker’s hand reach around him, holding out a wet cloth to him.  “Take the domino off.  Trust me.  I’m a big boy, let me make my own decisions, like you’ve made yours.  Let me decide whether or not you’re completely beyond redemption.  Everyone gets a second chance.  _Everyone_.  Even you.  So trust me, I’m your friend, take the goddamn domino mask off and face me.”

 

Loki gave up and took the cloth, keeping his back to Parker as he peeled off the mask and brought the cloth to his face, washing off the black-out make up from around his eyes.  He dropped both to the ground and took a deep breath and turned to face the only friend he’d ever truly made.

 

“It’s good to finally see your face,” he said, “ _Loki_.”

 

He held out his hand, holding out the cowl to him, Loki was incredibly confused by this action because realistically, he should have been on his arse by now.  Parker’s fist should have been pummelling his face, leaving him a bloody mass before carting him off and dropping him on the Avenger’s doorstep.

 

“You know who I am?” said Loki.

 

“I’ve known for weeks,” said Parker.

 

Loki felt like the floor had disappeared out from under him, and it must have shown in his face because Parker moved towards him, but Loki shook his head and kept his footing, barely. 

 

“What?” he said, “ _what?  Weeks?_ ”

 

Parker began counting things off on his fingers, “You’ve been twitchy from the start about the Avengers.  You said you were here during the invasion but you didn’t tell me your story and trust me, if someone was here during the invasion then they want to tell you what happened to them during it.  You don’t know anything about pop-culture and I mean _nothing_.  You never let me see your face even though you’ve seen mine and you know where I live, which could have only meant you suspected I would recognise you and weren’t some random, run of the mill, street criminal.  You have magic but that thing you got on your wrist - _yeah,_ I’ve seen that you’re shit at hiding it - it is _clearly_ blocking something so it’s probably some kind of prison manacle you can’t get off.  You’re incredibly strong and agile and you can flip yourself all over the place so either you spent your life training with Buddhist monks, or you had to be not a normal human, oh, and occasionally you let things slip without realising it and when I’ve googled them they’ve come up hits on pages about Norse mythology.  I’m a fucking genius, Loki, and sometimes you can be a _complete_ moron.”

 

Loki’s mouth hung open, “I don’t understand,” he said, “why did you not say anything?  Why haven’t you handed me in?  Why?”

 

“Because I wanted you to tell me yourself,” said Parker, “I wanted you to _trust_ me.”  Then he stepped forward and put his hand on Loki’s shoulder, “And because, you’re my best friend.”

 

Loki had to sit down.  Immediately.  He sat himself on the floor unceremoniously, Parker crouched beside him, then moved so he was sat crossed legged beside him. 

 

“You ok there, chief?” said Parker, “You’re looking a little pale...  _er_.”

 

“Just trying to process it all,” said Loki, in something of a haze.

 

“So,” said Parker, “what are we going to do tomorrow to make sure that they don’t find out who you are?”

 

“What?” said Loki, looking at him, “I don’t understand, why do you still want to help me?”

 

Parker shrugged, “Because you’ve been trying,” he said, “you’ve had my back since the first day, you helped people when you didn’t have to, you’ve been pretty determined not to drag me into your shit.  I mean I don’t know what’s going on with you, what your plan was to take over the world, but you don’t seem like the same guy.”

 

“I…” said Loki, “It was part of a bigger plan.  I did not actually expect to win.”

 

“Well you can tell me what the real plan was another day,” said Parker, he took Loki’s right hand and rolled back the sleeve and un-stringed the home made bracer and ran his finger across the rune bracelet.  He turned it around Loki’s wrist a few times, examining it, “Tell me about this.  Does it not work properly?  I’m guessing it’s supposed to be blocking your magic, but you can still access it, right?”

 

“There were two,” said Loki, “that’s how I was able to escape, the other was removed, temporarily, and now I can access a little, not a lot, but enough so I can get by.”

 

“And you can’t get it off yourself?” said Parker.

 

“If I could have, I would have by now,” said Loki.

 

“Alright,” said Parker, dropping Loki’s wrist, “now I need you to tell me what they know, or what they _think_ they know about us.”

 

“We won’t be able to fool them,” said Loki, “Stark is reasonably intelligent, and if the monster is with him they are two very smart individuals, though it pains me to say it.”

 

“Well I’m a fucking genius,” said Parker, “and you’re not so dumb yourself, I mean you’re a moron, but you’re a pretty smart moron, I think we’re just as smart as those guys.”

 

“If I’m caught, you’ll go down with me,” said Loki.

 

“They’ll have to catch me first,” said Parker, “so tell me, what do they know?”

 

“They think we’re brothers,” said Loki, “they think you’re the impulsive one, and I follow you for your protection.”

 

“So far, so good,” said Parker, “we can build on this.  So tell me what you know about them.”

 

Loki told Parker everything he knew, they talked for hours, going over details, Loki instructing Parker the keys to building lies, Parker giving Loki information so they could build a credible story. 

 

It was four in the morning when Parker stood to leave, “Ok, I’m going to go home, get some sleep.  Long day tomorrow, gotta make sure my aunt sees me at least once so she doesn’t know that I got caught up in fighting those attack bots or whatever they were.”

 

“How are you going to explain your leg?” asked Loki, pointing, Parker was still limping on it, and it really needed to be bandaged.

 

“Usual,” said Parker, “if she asks I’ll say I fell off my skateboard.  I’ll tape it up when I get home, it should be ok in a few days.”

 

“Alright,” said Loki, “get some sleep, Parker.”

 

Parker limped towards the window, pulling his mask back on over his head, then turned and looked at Loki, “If you’re gone in the morning, I’ll understand.  In fact, I’d probably be a little bit relieved.  But I promise you, Loki, I _promise_ you, I won’t let them take you away from me.”

 

“I’ll be here,” said Loki, “I won’t let you down.”

 

“You never have.”

 

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

** Chapter Twelve **

 

Bruce had gone up to the penthouse for this ‘meeting’ with Shadow, he’d already spoken to Fury that morning and had a pad of standard interview questions with him, but Tony clearly wasn’t expecting him yet, because he had his back to him and was listening to loud music.

 

Bruce snuck up behind Tony, the man was not aware that he was there inches from him, Bruce was chuckling quietly to himself as an idea popped into his head.

 

Tony had a heavy pair of headphones on, synced to some device or another apparently as there were no wires attached, bopping his head along to music, singing loudly and off key, “OH _DID_ YOU KNOW THAT JUNKYARD SLAVE ISN’T _EVEN_ OLD ENOUGH TO _SHAVE_ BUT HE CAN USE THE _FORCE_ THEY SAY-”

 

Bruce put his hand on Tony’s shoulder and the man nearly very literally jumped out of his skin, screaming like a girl, throwing the headphones off his head and gripping his arc reactor in an overly dramatic fashion. 

 

“WHAT ARE YOU, A NINJA?  DON’T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!” shouted Tony, panting slightly, gripping his chest.

 

Bruce snickered “I wasn’t _trying_ to sneak up on you, it just sorta happened.”

 

“Well don’t do it again,” said Tony, “you’re going to give me a coronary.”

 

“What were you listening to, Weird Al?” asked Bruce.

 

“Yeah,” said Tony, “how’d you know?”

 

“You were doing something,” said Bruce, a little smirk dancing across his lips, “I _think_ it was supposed to be singing, but I don’t think it was in any key the rest of the world are familiar with.”

 

“ _Philistine_ ,” said Tony, “see if I take you to karaoke night now after that comment.”

 

“I’m heart broken,” said Bruce, then he held out the data pad he’d been carrying to Tony, “Here, brought you the standard shield interview questions.”

 

“Might as well keep it,” said Tony, putting his hand on Bruce’s shoulder and guiding him over to the arm chairs, “you’re staying.”

 

“Oh, no,” said Bruce, “come on, Tony, I think you’ll be lucky if this guy shows up at all.  You saw how twitchy he was around me, I really don’t think I’ll be helping the situation.”

 

Tony pushed on Bruce’s shoulders, forcing him to sit in one of the arm chairs, “Which is precisely why I want you here,” he said, “it’s a lot harder for people to construct lies when they’re nervous.”

 

“I’m not happy that I’m being used like an attack dog here, Tony,” said Bruce.

 

“You’re not an attack dog,” he said, “more of a sign that says, ‘Beware, angry puppy with bad teeth inside’ and you’re such a cute puppy too.”

 

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” said Bruce, “I’m still not happy.”

 

“Change of subject,” said Tony, “what did Fury say?”

 

“Usual,” said Bruce, “use our best judgement, if it’s all good, probation, otherwise SHIELD will try and pick them up with minimal fuss.”

 

“Well at least Fury can now see that I was right and he was wrong and that I could find them on my own and didn’t need Tasha’s help,” said Tony, “though I like that he trusts our judgement on this, it makes me feel like a grown up.  Not as dumb as he looks that Fury.”

 

“Technically, you didn’t find them, they landed on us by accident,” said Bruce, “but, actually it’s _my_ judgement he wants, but, hey, _I_ , trust your opinion on this.”

 

“Stupid, one eyed, fussy bastard,” said Tony, “what does he know anyway?”

 

“What time is he due?” asked Bruce, wanting to change the subject before Tony got too grouchy. 

 

“Three thirty,” said Tony, “I told Jarvis to direct him up as soon as the door bell goes.”

 

“There’s a door bell on Avengers tower?” said Bruce.

 

“A proverbial door bell,” said Tony, “his name is Darren and he is one of the lobby guards.”

 

“Sir,” said the computer, breaking into the conversation, “you wished to know when it was three thirty precisely.”

 

“Thank you, Jarvis,” said Tony, confirming it by looking at his wrist watch, “not that I think that any second now we’re going to have Darren calling us-”

 

Tony had stopped mid sentence, and Bruce turned his head to look in the direction he was staring, out of the windows, onto the platform.  He saw Spider-man swing over the top, cutting his web rope somehow mid-swing, and he and Shadow dropped a few feet onto the platform, exchanging a look with one another, or at least that’s what Bruce guessed they were doing since one was masked the other masked and hooded. 

 

“I thought you said it was just going to be the older brother,” said Bruce, his eyes still on the platform.

 

“It was supposed to be,” said Tony, “maybe they changed their minds.”

 

Bruce watched Shadow place a hand on his brothers back and nodded at him, and they both walked silently towards the door, Jarvis sliding it open for them.  Tony beckoned them forward, but they stayed cautiously close to the doorway.  Bruce could feel Shadow’s eyes burning onto him, even though he couldn’t see them.

 

“This will be a lot easier if you come in and sit down,” said Tony.

 

“We’re fine over here,” said Shadow.

 

“I’m sorry,” said Tony, “where are my manners?  I’m Tony Stark,” he rose from his seat, Bruce tried to pull him back, but Tony shuck his hand, “owner of Stark Industries, Iron Man, this is my colleague _Doctor_ Bruce Banner, co-owner of Avengers tower here, physicist, genius, sugar junkie, occasional huge, green, rage monster.”

 

Bruce knew what Tony was doing.  It was impossible to not love him for it.

 

“What Tony is trying to impress upon you, somewhat clumsily,” said Bruce, “is that you’re safe here, I’m not about to Hulk out on you.”

 

“We’re _fine_ over here,” said Shadow, his arm protectively on his brothers shoulder.

 

Bruce had noticed the younger of the two was walking with a soft limp, probably from the injury acquired the previous night, his eyes scanned down the leg and noted a tear in the shin of the Spider-man outfit, seeing white beneath where there was clearly a bandage.

 

“Would either of you like a drink?” said Tony.

 

He walked casually across the room and around the bar, Bruce heard the sound of the fridge door opening and then closing and Tony brought four small water bottles to the coffee table between the armchairs, and opening one for himself. 

 

“Come on guys, we’re not going to bite,” said Tony.

 

“He might,” said Shadow, indicating his head at Bruce.

 

Bruce had come to expect from people, he took it in his stride as much as he could, he had a monster inside of him, he thought that Tony was the only person in the world who really understood him.  However Tony was sometimes _too_ understanding, as Bruce glanced at him, and he was scowling.

 

“What have you got against him?” said Tony, “What the fuck has he _ever_ done to you?”

 

“Tony…” said Bruce.

 

“We used to live in Harlem,” said Spider-man, speaking for the first time, Bruce noted how young he sounded, and swallowed a hard knot of guilt in his throat.

 

“I should go,” said Bruce trying to stand.

 

“You should _stay_ ,” said Tony, putting his hand on his shoulder and pushing him back into his seat.  “That wasn’t Bruce.”

 

“All the same,” said Shadow.

 

“All right then,” said Tony, picking up the data pad, “let’s get on with the questions shall we?  They’re pretty standard stuff, we’d just like to determine whether or not we think you pose a threat to the general public or not.”

 

Bruce swallowed another hard knot as he noticed that comment drew a glare in his direction from Shadow.

 

“What are your names?” asked Tony.

 

Shadow pointed at himself, “Shadow,” he pointed at his brother, “Spider-man.”

 

“What are your _real_ names?” asked Tony.

 

“None of your business,” said Shadow.

 

“Are you brothers?” asked Tony.

 

“You already know the answer to that,” said the older of the two. 

 

“What’s with the accents?” asked Tony. 

 

That appeared to throw them for a second, the younger one piped up, “What do you mean?”

 

“Well, he’s British,” said Tony, pointing to Shadow, “and you’re American,” he pointed to Spider-man, “how does that work?”

 

“We have different mothers,” said Spider-man.

 

“And your father?” asked Tony.

 

“He’s dead,” said Spider-man, “my mother too.”

 

“And your mother?” said Tony, looking to Shadow now.

 

“She lives,” said Shadow.

 

“So you moved here to look after your little brother?” asked Tony, still staring at Shadow.  “Why wouldn’t you bring him to you?”

 

“I’ve done my best to protect him,” said Shadow, “my brother is famous for his moments of bull-headed stubbornness.” 

 

“You know what I think?” said Tony, “I think you guys have inherited something from your father, something that makes you both fast and agile.  You, tall, dark and broody, were quite happy keeping your head down and just getting on with things, until Junior here, decided he wanted to join the spandex club, so he’s going out there and putting himself in danger and he won’t stop, and it’s forcing _you_ to have to go out there and chase after him to make sure he doesn’t get his ass killed.  Last night gave you a bit of a scare, didn’t it?  Muggers is more your thing right?  Car thieves, maybe the occasional street thug, or convenience store robber?  Last night was the first time either of you got really hurt, so right now you’re both on super defensive mode and you can’t see that we’re just trying to help you here.  But I got news for you, guys, that was just the _first_ time, you keep going out there, one of you is probably going to get killed, and it’s probably going to be the little bug there, because you’re the stronger one aren’t you?  You’re older, you’re stronger, and you had to give something major up to stay here and look after him, and it’s eating you alive and making you resentful.  How’m I doing?  You can stop me any time.”

 

“What are you?” asked Spider-man, “Sherlock Holmes?”

 

“Never been much of a boxer,” said Tony.  “Look, fuck SHIELD,” he tossed the data pad onto the arm chair, “Fuck SHIELD and fuck the standard interview questions.  I think you two clowns are just guys who wanted to help people and now you’re in way over your heads because now you’ve got bigger guys, _meaner_ guys than us wanting to know what you’re all about so I’m going to cut you a break.”

 

“You’re going to leave us alone?” asked Spider-man.

 

“I’m going to put you on probation,” said Tony, “three months.  We keep a close eye on you for three months, you don’t cause any major trouble, we’ll pass it onto the bigger guys that you’re not going to cause any problems.”

 

“So, what, you’re going to follow us about everywhere for three months?” asked Spider-man.

 

“No, we have lives,” said Tony, “I got room, you two move your base of operations here, work and live out of the tower.”

 

“No,” they both said in unison. 

 

“He can’t,” said Shadow.

 

“Why?” asked Tony with a smirk, “does he have to get up early for school?”

 

The two remained silent. 

 

Tony’s smirk dropped. 

 

“He’s still in school isn’t he?” said Tony, incredulously, pointing to Spider-man, but looking at Shadow, “just how old is your kid brother?”

 

“Hey, I’m not a kid,” said Spider-man.

 

“Shut up,” said Shadow.

 

“I’m guessing 15,” said Tony.

 

“I’m _17_!” said Spider-man.

 

Shadow brought a hand up to the forehead which was masked by his hood, “ _Moron_ ,” he said. 

 

“Am I going to have to get social services involved here?” said Tony. 

 

“I can look after myself,” said Spider-man.

 

“I can’t have a 17 year old kid hanging around my tower, going to school during the day and trying to be a masked vigilante at night,” said Tony, “I’ll get done!”

 

“Then do not force us to stay here,” said Shadow, “we’re perfectly fine where we are, keep observing us, as no doubt you have been, from a distance.”

 

“If I do that,” said Tony, “all that will happen is that SHIELD will think I haven’t done my job and they’ll send one of their agents to come track you down and take you to their headquarters.”

 

“Look, you won’t be under lock and key,” said Bruce, “the tower will be open, but we need to know you’re not using your downtime to try and take over the world.”

 

Tony turned his head to face Bruce, “Yeah, but the kid presents a problem, I might have to get Fury to bring these guys in anyway, there could be all sorts of legal issues here.”

 

“There is no need for that,” said Shadow, “I will stay here.  He has to go to school, I will make sure he has alterative accommodation.”

 

“What?  No!” said Spider-man, looking to his older brother. 

 

Bruce’s heart broke a little for him with the tone in his voice, he was glad he couldn’t see his expression. 

 

“It will be _fine_ ,” said Shadow, “you can stay with _your aunt_.  She will take care of you.”

 

“No!” said Spider-man, “No, I don’t want you to have to stay here.  I want you to stay with me, Puck.”

 

He must have realised what he had said straight away, because he immediately dropped his head, and the grimace on his older brothers face looked furious. 

 

“So, _Puck_ is it?” said Tony.

 

Bruce groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, the boy had slipped up, and Tony wasn’t about to let that bit of information go under the radar.

 

“You wanted this!” said Shadow, ignoring Tony completely for his brother, “You wanted to play at being a super hero, so this is what we’re going to have to do.  You go stay with your aunt, I will stay here, it’s done now, end of discussion, red card.”

 

“But…”

 

“Red card situation, end of conversation,” said Shadow. 

 

The little one clenched his fists, fuming, then he launched himself at his brother, wrapping his arms tightly around him, and then Shadow slowly put his arms around his brother, hugging him. 

 

Tony and Bruce exchanged a look, tensions between the brothers were high, but it was obvious they loved each other.  Tony cleared his throat, the hug ended.

 

“So what’s the plan here, Wayne and Garth?” asked Tony.

 

Shadow held a hand on his brothers shoulder, “I will return here tomorrow night for this, _probation_ , I will need a day to make arrangements for him and to gather his things.”

 

“That sounds reasonable to me,” said Tony, “Bruce?”

 

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” said Bruce, standing cautiously, “but…  could I…?”  he paused where he stood as they both flinched and Shadow put himself between his brother and Bruce, “please,” he continued, “I’m a doctor, let me take a look at his leg.”

 

“It’s fine,” said Shadow, “it’s healing.”

 

“It might be broken,” said Bruce, “let me…”

 

“It’s not broken,” said Shadow, “it’s healing.”

 

“You can’t know that,” said Bruce, “please, let me just make sure it’s ok, that there’s no infection, let me dress it properly, please.”

 

“Just…  let him look, bro,” said Spider-man, putting his hand on his brothers shoulder, “you can be right there to make sure he doesn’t hurt me.”

 

“Come down to the medical floor when you’re ready,” said Bruce, “I’ll be waiting.”

 

He turned his back on the brothers and then pressed the elevator button, he stepped inside and hit the button for the medical floor without looking back until he heard the doors close. 

 

If the brothers had been living in Harlem at the time that the Other Guy broke it, then Bruce really couldn’t blame either of them for being as twitchy as they were around him, but he hoped, perhaps, taking a look at the younger brothers leg and doing his best to fix it might go a little way towards showing them that Bruce himself was not a bad person.

 

He stepped off the elevator when it reached medical floor and went over to the closest bay bed, opening up the curtains, he put on a set of gloves and started prepping a tray, filling it with bandages, gauze, dressings, sterile wipes, everything he thought he might need.  He only had to wait fifteen minutes when the elevator pinged

 

The brothers stepped off the elevator, not they had to move more than a few steps, but Bruce could see how badly the boy, and he really was just a boy, was limping, his brother keeping his hand on his back in order to support him.

 

“If you could hop up on here,” said Bruce, indicating to the bed, “I’ll take a look at your leg.”

 

The boy limped over, his brother making careful steps behind him, until they reached the bed, Bruce took a step back and the boy hopped up and propped up his leg.  Without being asked, his brother pulled off the boot which blended into his costume so well, Bruce hadn’t even realised it wasn’t all one piece.  He set it to one side and moved a strap which was around the bottom of the boys foot, keeping the leg part in place to stop it from riding it up, then very carefully, rolled the leg up to the knee and moved to his opposite side of the bed, away from Bruce.

 

Bruce stepped forward, the wrappings around the boys calf weren’t badly done, but he knew he could improve them.  He took a pair of scissors from his tray and carefully cut them off, pulling them away and very gently lifting off a sterile dressing.  He frowned deeply and looked up at Shadow.

 

“This is _not_ fine,” he said.

 

“It will heal,” said Shadow. 

 

Bruce took a probe from the tray and very carefully inspected the wound, shaking his head, he put his hand on the back of the calf and squeezed, “Does this hurt?” he asked.

 

“No,” said Spider-man, shaking his head, “the front hurts, but the bone’s ok, really.”

 

“Wiggle your toes for me?” said Bruce.

 

The boy complied. 

 

Bruce opened a drawer and pulled out a syringe and a bottle of a mild local aesthetic, he removed the syringe from its sterile packaging and began to fill it, “I’m going to give you a shot so I can stitch this,” said Bruce, “I’m no plastic surgeon, though, so I’m afraid it’s going to scar.”

 

“That’s ok,” said Spider-man, “chicks dig scars.”

 

Bruce laughed at that, then tapped the side of the syringe and them carefully injected the boys leg, hearing him suck in a breath.  Bruce looked back at Shadow, giving him another frown, “You should have taken him to a hospital,” he said, “normally you only see this kind of damage from compound fractures.”

 

“Please just help him so that we may leave,” said Shadow.

 

“Of course I’m going to help him,” said Bruce, “but if you’re supposed to be looking after him, then you’re supposed to take him to a doctor when he’s hurt.  If this got infected it could have been _really_ serious.”

 

Bruce threaded a needled and stitched up the wound, he placed a new sterile dressing on top and wrapped a new bandage properly around it.  He moved his tray to one side to begin clearing away and Shadow pulled the leg back down on his brothers outfit and helped him put his boot back on.

 

“I would say you should stay off that for a few days,” said Bruce, “but I think it would be a plea falling on deaf ears.”

 

“Sure would, Doc,” said Spider-man, shuffling off the bed, testing his foot on the ground, “thanks, you did a great job.”

 

“If anything like this happens again,” said Bruce, “to either of you, then come to me if you can’t go to a hospital, I’ll do my best to fix it up.”

 

“We’ll be fine,” said Spider-man, “but thanks for the offer, Doc.”  He limped over to a window and opened it, pointing his arm towards it and looking at Shadow, “After you?”

 

“No, I insist,” said Shadow, “after you, please.” 

 

The boy jumped up and leapt out of the window, and Shadow took a run and jumped out after him.  Bruce could not stop himself from running to the window and looking out, seeing Shadow clinging onto his brothers back as they swung from building to building, moving across the city.

 

“There was a perfectly good door,” said Bruce.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The very second that Loki and Parker arrived in Loki’s building, Loki threw his hood back and grinned at Parker, a genuine, happy grin, Parker pulled off his mask, and held up his hand in anticipation. 

Loki shook his head, still grinning and slapped Parker’s hand with his own,

“Alright, I’ll have you high fiving like a pro in no time,” said Parker and gave Loki a half hug before spinning himself a web hammock and dropping himself into it so he could take the weight off his leg. “They totally bought the whole performance. Who’s a genius?”

“You’re a genius,” said Loki, conceding “I admit it, you’re a genius.”

“Well you are pretty smart too,” said Parker, grinning, “you were right, they wanted to see a couple of fuck ups playing amateur hour, and it’s exactly what we gave them.”

“Let them create the lies they want to hear and they will build them for you,” said Loki, returning the grin.

“What was your favourite part?” asked Parker.

“The part where they believed us and we got to walk out of there,” said Loki. 

Parker threw him a look, “Play nicely, Loki.”

“Fine,” he said, “I think it was the bit when you slipped and called me Puck, nice touch.”

“Wasn’t it?” said Parker, still grinning, “I’d like to thank the academy, but I won’t because they had nothing to do with it and I’m awesome.”

“Though you might have gone slightly over the top with the hugging,” said Loki.

“I was caught up in the moment of my performance,” said Parker, “besides it sold the separation thing, we might be able to use it later. Come on, Loki, it couldn’t have gone any better.”

“I agree, it do go much better than I thought it would have,” said Loki, “though we could have done without me having to agree to stay at that tower for three months. That part I am not as pleased with, yes for now they did not realise my true identity, but I don’t want to give them any reason to suspect me, and being in close company, they may, at some point.”

“Yeah, but think of it like his,” said Parker, “you’re out with me all night, and I’ll try and pick you up earlier than normal, you’ll sleep during most of the day, I mean realistically how much time are you going to have to spend there? A few hours? It’s a big enough place, you’ll have your own room, you can just sit in it and read or whatever until it’s time to come play out.”

“Easy for you to say when you’re not going to be the one dodging Stark and the monster for those few hours,” said Loki.

“Aw, give him a break,” said Parker, “he patched up my leg, didn’t he? He’s not that bad.”

“I’ll ask you if that’s still your opinion of him if you are ever put into the situation where his other side is throwing you around the room like a rag doll,” said Loki, his muscles getting phantom aches from the memory.

“He’d never catch me,” said Parker grinning at him, “I’m pretty spry.” 

“Well if he did catch you, you’d be pretty dead,” said Loki. 

“Shut up, Loki, you’re bringing me down,” said Parker, “I want to bask in the glory of my own genius.”

“Careful, Parker,” said Loki, “you won’t get your head back through the window.”

“Pscht!” said Parker.

“I suppose that one thing will be advantageous,” said Loki, “if my brother returns to this realm I will know about it before hand. We may have been able to pull the wool over Stark and Banners eyes, but my brother has known me too long and too well to be fooled. He’ll know me the second I open my mouth.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to think of a decent excuse to get out,” said Parker, “and just think, once this three months is done, you can be in the wind.”

“We still have the slight problem of this,” said Loki, pulling back his sleeve and showing Parker the bracelet, “as long as it’s still on my wrist, I can’t access all my magic, which means I can’t disguise myself and I can’t teleport.”

“Aw, you can teleport?” said Parker, “as soon as we get that thing off, we’re so going to Disneyland.”

“You’re sure you can’t get it off?” asked Loki.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” said Parker, “we need some kind of specialised tool. Maybe you can have a poke about in the tower? I’m sure if anyone on Earth has the kind of thing we need, it’ll be Tony Stark.”

“It would give me a deep sense of satisfaction to know it was one of his tools which free me from the binding,” said Loki. 

“Yeah, well, one thing at a time,” said Parker, “pack your shit, anything you think you’ll need because we’re probably best avoiding this place while they’re watching us.”

“I agree,” said Loki, “I’ll pack my things, you rest your leg.”

“That was my plan anyway,” said Parker, smirking, “oh, and one more thing.”

“What?” said Loki impatiently, as he’d bent to his small pile of clothes to pick them up.

“Can we throw ourselves out of the windows every day?” said Parker, “Because that was fun!”

x-x-x

The next day Loki was standing on his roof, waiting for Parker to arrive, it was mid afternoon, he’d packed his things into a backpack that Parker had loaned him. Not that he had many things to bring, his clothes, spare masks, a few of the favourite newspaper clippings he’d kept, though they were more for props than anything else, and his copy of Jurassic Park which he’d just started reading for the second time, and not just because it was the only book he owned, but because he had enjoyed the story so much he wanted to read it again.

Parker swung into view and as soon as he saw him, Loki burst into a fit of laughter. Parker dropped onto the roof and knelt down in front of Loki, holding up his arms, palms flat, a brand new sweeping broom resting across like he was presenting Loki with a sword. 

“Your weapon, good sir knight,” said Parker. 

Loki lifted the broom from Parker’s hands and pulled the bristled head off, he gave the wooden staff a twirl between his fingers, “Excellent balance, good choice, squire,” said Loki.

Parker stood to his feet, “Thought you could do with a new one, since the old one got broken.”

“Much appreciated,” said Loki, “thank you.”

“Ok,” said Parker, “we’ll get you there and unpacked, then we can go kick some butt for a few hours.”

They set off, first keeping to the back streets then moving into more visible ones until Avengers tower came into view. Loki couldn’t point as one hand was firmly gripping onto Parkers back and the other was holding onto his new staff, making sure he didn’t drop it onto the streets below. 

“Get us to the platform again,” said Loki into Parker’s ear as loudly as he could as the wind rushing past them, the noise of the streets and Parker’s mask all added to the blocking of sound.

“That’s where I was heading,” said Parker, “not a big fan of doors.”

Parker swung them up in a huge arch, dropped his web and spun a new one to a higher part of the tower, moving them up gradually until they reached the platform which attached to Stark’s penthouse and dropped them both on top. 

Loki could see from under his hood that the doors were opening for them and Stark and Banner the monster were inside waiting.

“Ok, now do that thing I told you to do,” said Parker, moving towards him.

“Must I?” said Loki. 

“Just do it, trust me,” said Parker. 

Loki sighed and put one arm around Parker’s shoulders, then pressed his knuckles on the top of his mask, as if he was ruffling his hair. 

Then they walked inside, Loki keeping a hand on Parkers shoulder, since he was still walking with a limp, though not as pronounced as it had been the previous day. 

“We were beginning to think you weren’t coming,” said Stark, standing up to greet them. Loki’s eyes shifted around the room suspiciously, keeping one trained on Banner the entire time. 

“We had arrangements to make,” said Loki. 

“Of course,” said Stark, “well you better follow me, I’ll show you where you can sleep.” 

Stark walked to the elevator and opened the doors, Banner walked inside, Loki tightened his grip on Parker’s shoulder.

“It’s ok, bro,” said Parker in a low whisper. 

They walked to the lift and got inside, Parker moved to put himself between Loki and Banner, but Loki stopped him and kept them both on the opposite side. Stark pressed a button marked ‘47’ and it began travelling down in awkward silence.

“How’s the leg?” asked Banner, breaking the stillness.

“It’s healing, thanks, Doc,” said Parker. 

“I’d like to take another look in a few days,” said Banner, “to make sure it’s healing, no infection.”

“It’s fine,” said Parker, “it’ll heal on its own.”

Good boy, don’t give the beast any more access to you than necessary. 

The elevator pinged and the doors opened, Stark stepped out and Loki and Parker followed behind him into a corridor which had several doors. He took them to the end one which bore a plaque reading ‘47-A’, Stark turned the handle.

“This is you,” he said, walking inside.

They followed behind him, Loki acutely aware that Banner was behind them the entire time. It was a small room, at least smaller than his room in the Roberts building. There were two large windows, which Parker went to immediately, checking that they opened all the way, which they did. There was a bed pushed to the far wall, a decent size, though after weeks of sleeping on a yoga mattress, Loki wasn’t sure if he’d be ready to sleep in a real bed again. There was a bedside table, a set of drawers, a small desk and chair, Loki couldn’t think of anything else he’d need, he watched Stark open a door at the side of the room, showing him a small bathroom with a shower inside. Running water and a toilet, hallelujah. 

Loki lent his staff against the wall and pulled his backpack off his shoulders, setting it on the bed, whilst Parker spun himself a hammock, which caused Loki to roll his eyes, but Stark and Banner watched in mild amusement as Parker dropped himself into it. 

“Cool digs, bro,” said Parker.

“So,” said Stark, “do you prefer Shadow or Puck?”

Loki threw Parker a look for the sake of performance. 

“Either is fine,” said Loki.

“There’s a kitchen on the main Avengers floor,” said Stark, “you can help yourself to anything in the fridge. I don’t mind if you use that floor, and Jarvis can tell you where the gym is if you want to use it, but I’d prefer if you didn’t go wandering. We have detention cells and they’re not nearly as comfortable as this.”

“I assume I can come and go as I please,” said Loki, “that I am not a prisoner.”

“Sure if you want to go out and shake your tail feather,” said Tony, “as long as you don’t disappear on us for days. This is probation, so you’re supposed to be proving to us that you can be trusted and you’re not about to start tearing up the streets.”

“Nah,” said Parker, “he’d never let me have that much fun.”

Stark smirked at the comment. 

“I assume it’s fine for him to come and see me when he wishes,” said Loki.

“As long as he doesn’t start drawing on the walls in crayon,” said Stark. 

“Then I have no objections to this living arrangement,” said Loki. 

“Excellent,” said Stark, “hey, we’ll be having beers tonight, you can join us if you want.”

“I’ll decline,” said Loki, “we work at night.”

“Whatever, don’t say I didn’t offer,” said Stark, “we’ll let you settle in.”

He walked towards the door, and then stopped and turned, as he patted Banner on the back. 

“Oh yeah,” said Stark, “part of the probation, you’re going to have to have a physical at some point, sooner is better than later, mkay, pumpkin?”

Then they both left. 

Loki looked at Parker, “Shit,” he said. 

“Don’t worry about it,” said Parker, “you’ll be able to keep your cowl on.”

Loki nodded and unzipped the bag to begin unpacking his things, and taking a roll of masking tape, he opened the window and stuck an X to the outside of the window to make it easier for Parker to see which one was his. 

“You better go,” said Loki, “come pick me up later, we’ll go on patrol.”

“Okey dokey, dude,” said Parker, jumping down from his hammock.

“And clean up your web spooge,” said Loki.


	14. Chapter 14

** Chapter Fourteen **

 

Tony and Bruce got into the elevator and began heading down to the workshop, a SHIELD recovery team had made sure Tony had been delivered a good number of the attack bots they fought on New Years Eve and Tony was looking forward to start taking them apart and seeing what made them tick.

 

Bruce was giving him a strange look and frankly it was beginning to piss him off, so he raised his eyebrow at him, “Yes?  Is there something bothering you, oh wise, Bruce, master of the guilt trip?”

 

“Well, yes, actually, now you’ve brought it up,” he said, “I would have thought you’d have been straight on to Jarvis, the second we left the room, watching the cameras to see what they’re doing.”

 

“Oh,” said Tony, “well, there is no surveillance in the rooms on floor 47.”

 

“ _What_?” said Bruce hitting the emergency stop button on the elevator, bringing it to a shuddering stop which forced them both to balance themselves by holding onto the wall.

 

“Um, would mind telling me exactly why you felt the need to do that, Brucie?” said Tony.

 

“Sorry,” he said, looking slightly sheepish, “well, they do it in the movies all the time.”

 

“For the love of…” Tony hit the emergency button the elevator creaked into starting again, “Shall we do that again without the emergency procedures?”

 

“Sorry,” said Bruce again, “but why in the name of Roddenberry would you put Shadow in a room that Jarvis wasn’t watching twenty-four-seven?”

 

“Do you mean aside from how very illegal it would be?” he said, “If his underage brother should start stripping off to jump in the shower while he’s here and I had it on camera?  Or how illegal in general it would be to film someone in what would be considered _their_ bedroom without their knowledge and permission?  Aside from that, you mean?”

 

“Yes, aside from that, obviously,” said Bruce, “because you’ve got cameras everywhere else in the building.”

 

“Yeah, in the public areas,” he said, “for security, all the  R&D floors, the elevators, all the Avengers floors, the workshop, corridors, detention cells, that’s all good and legal.  Floor 47 though is private guest accommodation, and yeah, I’m watching the door, Jarvis is monitoring the outside, but I can’t watch _in_ the room.”

 

“You’ve got cameras in the penthouse!” he said, “You’ve got cameras in _my_ apartment!”

 

“Yes, but _you_ know they’re there,” he said “and now you half own the building, you also half own the security, so it’s fine.”

 

“How are you going to be watching him all the time then, if you can’t actually _watch_ him?” said Bruce.

 

“Well _why_ do you think I invited him to drink beers with us?” said Tony, “Because of his oh-so-sunny personality?  No, because we’re going to have to slyly encourage him to venture out of his room.  Gotta make friends, play nicely.”

 

“Oh Fury is going to be _so_ pissed,” said Bruce as the elevator came to a stop at the workshop and they stepped out.

 

“Oh I know,” said Tony with a large grin, “and the best part is, there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.”

 

“You’re playing with fire, Tony,” said Bruce, going to the workbench which was piled with robot parts, “the next time you fuck up, he’s going to come up with some creative way to indirectly punish you for it, you realise that, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, I know,” he said, “but fuck him.  You’ll see give it a few days once _Puck_ has settled in, he’ll be like part of the furniture.”

 

“Maybe if the furniture is a set of black out curtains,” said Bruce, “I really hope this doesn’t come back to bite you on the ass, Tony.”

 

“Oh come on,” said Tony, “don’t be such a Debbie Downer, it’ll be fine.”

 

“I’m not sure who you’re trying to convince more, Tony,” said Bruce, “me or you.”

 

“It’s you,” he said, “definitely you.”

 

Though now he’d said it out loud, he wasn’t really sure that was the case, he’d just have to try his best and hopefully, their house guest would come around and open up to them.

 

That’s what he hoped at least.

 

x-x-x

 

Sometimes it was easy to almost completely _forget_ that they had a ‘house guest’ because they saw him so infrequently, when he did show his face, well, chin, it always took Tony half a second to remember that he was in fact _staying_ in Avengers tower and wasn’t a tall, broody intruder.

 

Tony had privately admitted to himself, and not to Bruce, because Bruce would never let him hear the end of it, that his plan to ‘get Shadow to open up’ was flawed to begin with, because he’d vastly underestimated both how busy he himself was going to be, and how much time Shadow would spend _out_ of the building.  

 

The most they saw him was on the late evening when they’d see his younger brother swing past the tower, then a few moments later, swing away again, carrying Shadow on his back.  They hardly ever saw them return as it would always be so late at night.  Tony wondered how the kid managed to stay awake in school when he was on the streets until the early hours of the morning fighting muggers.  At least his brother got to sleep most of the day, at least that was what Tony assumed he was doing.

 

Bruce and Tony had been incredibly busy themselves though, so it was hard to find an opportunity to see Shadow around the tower.  Since the robot attack, they’d been spending a lot of time in the workshop, in fact almost all of their free time.  They were taking apart some of the more complete specimens they’d recovered from the street.  It was largely hampered by the fact that most of the heads which the more complicated circuitry had been contained in, had been damaged to deactivate the bots so even for two guys like them, it was really slowing the investigation down.

 

SHIELD had been unhappy about the number of specimens that Tony had appropriated for himself, as their own people wanted more to look at, but Tony was determined he was going to figure out just where the hell these things had come from, he was not ready to admit defeat yet.

 

Tony had called it quits for the evening when Bruce had excused himself to go do one of his volunteer sessions.  Bruce often went to free clinics around the city to help out, though lately he’d also been frequenting a centre for trauma victims as out-patients, which was something so far removed from Bruce would normally do, Tony had teased him and sung, “ _Bruce_ ’s got a _girl_ friend” when he left.

 

Tony had headed up to the main Avengers floor with the intent of throwing out some of the food which had gone off.  He needed to do something, some pointless menial task which would take his mind off things and clear his head and it was a good a task as any that he could be getting on with.    

 

Tasha and Barton were always busy with SHIELD assignments so they hardly ever dropped by, Steve had his own apartment downtown and only really came to the tower for training and meetings, and Thor was still in Asgard, so the only reason to keep it stocked was for Shadow, since he and Bruce had their own kitchens. 

 

The problem was of course that the food kept going off, and this was the third time in as many weeks that Tony was having to throw out the rotten food, since he wouldn’t give cleaners clearance to any of the Avengers floors. 

 

Shadow was eating a little, the cereal in the Tupperware tub had gone down some, the milk always got used, occasionally a few slices of bread, a single slice of cooked ham from a packet of ten, or small hunks of cheese from a huge block, an apple or two, a bag of potato chips here and there, the occasional cookie. 

 

But he never took anything one could make a proper meal out of, nothing substantial, the freezer was full and hadn’t been touched, tins of food still lined the cupboards, but everything else in the fridge kept going off and Tony had to wonder how the man was getting away with eating so little and still managing to go out every night and chase down muggers and car thieves. 

 

When he’d sat down to review the footage with Jarvis, Shadow was almost like a scavenger, he’d slink in, look around take a tiny morsel of food and slink off again.  He was going to have to find the time and an excuse to get Shadow out of his room and talk to him.  The main point of the probation was to make sure he wasn’t a huge danger to the general public, which Tony already suspected was the case, but for his own private satisfaction, he wanted to unlock a bit of the mystery for himself.

 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Tony muttered under his breath as the elevator doors opened and he saw that Shadow was actually there on the Avengers floor, standing inside the kitchenette area, making himself a hot drink by the electric kettle. 

 

Laid on the counter by one of the high stools was a copy of the previous days newspaper, and a book which Tony couldn’t read the title of until he got closer and then smirked as he realised it was Jurassic Park, one of the few books whose movie lived up to the adaptation and that he’d read himself more than once. 

 

“Hey there, _Puck_ ,” said Tony, casually strolling in, seeing the man’s shoulders flinch.  Now he was closer he could see he was making tea, English style, of course, you could take the man out of country, but you couldn’t take the country out of the man.  “I was beginning to wonder if you were even still around, you really live up to your namesake, we never seem to actually see you much, except when you’re swinging by the windows of course.”

 

Shadow deposited his tea bag into the trash can and turned to face him, holding his mug of tea in one hand.  Well, _face_ was a very loose interpretation of the word, seeing as how the guy always wore a mask and had his hood drawn over as well, if Tony ever spotted the bottom of his nose, he counted that as practical eye contact.

 

“I’ll get out of your way,” said Shadow quietly, moving around the corner to grab his book.

 

“No, don’t,” said Tony, opening the cupboard under the sink and grabbing a trash bag from a roll, “stay, I’m only here to throw away some of this rotten food, I won’t be long.”

 

Shadow seated himself at the counter as Tony opened the fridge, shaking his head at the amount of food he was going to have to throw away. 

 

“You waste a lot of food,” said Shadow. 

 

Tony turned slowly, looking at him in disbelief, he’d picked up his book at the half way point, and seemed to be reading it again, ignoring Tony since he’d made his comment. 

 

“ _I’m_ not wasting food,” said Tony, pointing his hand at the fridge, “why aren’t _you_ eating any of it?”

 

“It’s not my food to take,” said Shadow, taking a sip of his tea, “my brother brings a sandwich for me when we go on patrol.  I admit I have taken a little on the days I have been very hungry, but I don’t want to be accused of stealing food which doesn’t belong to me.”

 

Tony was almost angry about this, ok, he was a little angry about this, “I _told_ you to help yourself to the fridge, me and Bruce have our own kitchens, the only reason it’s this stocked in the first place is because you’re here.”

 

“Well I wasn’t made aware of that,” said Shadow, “you should save yourself the money and not buy as much if the intention was to be for my benefit.”

 

Tony seethed.  _Ungrateful bastard_.  He began pulling packets and items from the fridge that had gone off and throwing them into the trash bag, if Shadow wanted to martyr himself with self-imposed starvation, that was fine with Tony, he’d tell Jarvis to stop stocking the fridge. 

 

“By the way, both Hammond and Malcolm die in the end,” said Tony, turning as he finished and tying off the bag, depositing it in the main trash can.

 

“I know,” said Shadow, taking another sip of tea, “I’ve read it before.”

 

“Why don’t you read something else then?” said Tony, deciding to make himself a cup of coffee while he was there, since his petty attempt to spoil the ending of Shadow’s book had been scuppered. 

 

“Because it’s the only one I have,” said Shadow. 

 

“Well there’s a book shelf over there,” said Tony, pointing, as he quickly made himself a mug of instant coffee, “there’s nothing stopping you from reading any of those books.”

 

“They don’t belong to me,” said Shadow, not turning his head to see where Tony was pointing. 

 

“Fucking hell, Puck,” said Tony running his hand over his face, “I know you’re pissed that we’re making you do this probation thing and that we’re essentially keeping you away from your brother, but you don’t have to keep up with this martyr shit.  You can borrow the books, you could keep them for all I care, I never have time to read them anyway, they’re only there so there’s something for the others to read if they get bored when they’re hanging about the tower.”

 

Shadow closed his book and placed it on the counter, “I have angered you.”

 

“Yeah,” said Tony, “I’m not keeping you prisoner here, you can come and go as you please, so I really don’t like being made to feel like I’ve locked you away in the dungeon and thrown away the key.”

 

“I don’t wish to be locked away,” said Shadow.

 

Tony made a growl of frustration, “No, I wasn’t threatening to lock you away, Jesus _fucking_ Christ.  What I’m saying is you’ve been here for like three weeks, you barely leave your room, you can use the gym, you can eat the food, you can read the books, no one is jump down your throat because you wanted to make an omelette or read Moby Dick.  You’re not a prisoner, you’re a guest.”

 

“Duly noted,” said Shadow, “though you appear to be _jumping down my throat_ for not doing those things.”

 

“Fucking hell,” said Tony, shaking his head, “your brother is probably glad to be getting a break from you if this is how you act when you’re at home.”

 

“Is there something I can do?” asked Shadow, a note of condescension in his voice, “to make it so that you are no longer displeased with my lack of socialising and that these lectures, as _fun_ as they are, _desist_?”

 

“Yes,” said Tony, “yes there is actually something you can do.”  At last an opportunity, he had no idea why, but his heart was pounding in his ears he was so frustrated.

 

“Then pray, tell,” said Shadow.

 

“First you can go get your damn physical from Bruce tomorrow,” said Tony, “and you can do it without giving him any shit about the Other Guy.  Bruce and Hulk are two people who share a living space, trust me, they could not be more different.  Second, you can try and make the effort to have a five minute conversation with one of us every now and then.  How are we supposed to deem that you’re trustworthy if you won’t let us see that you can be trusted?  You volunteered to do this.”

 

“I’m only doing this for him,” said Shadow, “if it were up to me, he’d be off the streets, but he wants to be Spider-man, he _needs_ to be Spider-man, so I am doing this so he can continue.”

 

“You could stop him,” said Tony, “he’s just a kid.”

 

“You’ve met him,” said Shadow, “how much control do you think I have over him?  This is the compromise, this is how I make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.  I have as much control over my brother, as your brother has over you, i.e., as much as he is willing to allow me.”

 

“I don’t have a brother,” said Tony.

 

“Oh?” said Shadow, “I read the newspapers, Stark.  A few months ago, hardly a day went by without there being a picture of you being removed from one drinking establishment or another by your brother, there have been fewer of late, but I hazard that the quantity you drink has only diminished enough so that he no longer has to worry about you and scold you.”

 

_Well, damn, he was talking about Bruce.  Well, he definitely had the drinking part right, that was for sure._

 

“Well, he’s not my brother,” said Tony, “he’s my best friend he-”

 

Shadow interrupted him, great time for him suddenly to get chatty.  “Do you not love him?  Does he not love you?  Would you not die for him?  Do you not tell him things you would never tell another kind of friend, no matter how close?  Do you not seek his approval in matters and then feel guilty when you disappoint him?”

 

“Well, yes but-”

 

He was interrupted again, _cheeky bastard_!  “Then Banner is as much your brother as…  Spider-man is mine.”

 

“In that case,” said Tony, leaning across the counter, “stop giving _my_ brother so much shit, or you’ll have _me_ to deal with, have I made myself clear?”

 

There was a long pause before Shadow spoke again.   

 

“As crystal,” he said. 

 

Tony nodded his head, then he went over to the book shelf and pulled out three books that he’d read himself more than once and walked back over to the kitchen counter and plonked them in front of Shadow. 

 

“Here,” he said, “Merry Christmas.”

 

“It’s January,” said Shadow.

 

“Then Merry Martin Luther King day,” said Tony, “read ‘em, keep ‘em, toss ‘em, I don’t care.”  He turned his back on Shadow and began walking towards the door, then paused as he heard Shadow speak quietly.

 

“Thank you,” he said.

 

 Tony nodded, “And start eating the fucking food.”

 

x-x-x

 

 

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

** Chapter Fifteen **

 

Tony was elbow deep in robot parts, he had leather safety gloves on and his favourite pair of safety goggles which were round with black lenses that Bruce always mocked him slightly for, but Tony didn’t care because he thought they looked cool. 

 

He was trying to locate the original source of a rogue wire which was sure was supposed to do something very important but he couldn’t quite detangle it from a mass of other wires and it was driving him crazy. 

 

Suddenly he felt hot breath against his ear and he jumped six inched into the air as a voice said, “WHATAYADOIN’?”

 

“FUCKING HELL!” shouted Tony as he jumped and grabbed his chest, turning around to glare at Bruce, who was tittering. 

 

“Bit jumpy aren’t we?” said Bruce.

 

Tony pulled off his safety goggles and tossed them onto the work bench so he could glare at Bruce properly, “ _You_ are going to give me a heart attack if you’re not careful.”

 

“Forgive me I didn’t realise you didn’t hear me come in,” said Bruce, still smirking so he was obviously lying.  If Bruce had any spare money to gamble with, Tony would love to take it all from him in a poker game.  Worst poker face, ever.

 

“I was absorbed in my work,” said Tony. 

 

“Clearly,” said Bruce, then he waved a data pad in front of Tony, “well guess who finally came for his physical.”

 

“You have got to be shitting me,” said Tony, “he actually turned up?”

 

“Yep,” said Bruce, “a couple of hours ago.  Not that he made it easy for me, mind you, the most he would take off was that body armour vest, kept the hoodie on the entire time.”

 

Tony pulled his safety gloves off and tossed them onto the table next to the goggles, then lent back against the workbench.  “Ok, lay it on me,” he said, “what’s he like?”

 

Bruce started looking over the pad, reading off the data he’d recorded, “Physically speaking you’d be hard pushed to find someone fitter,” he said, “made him run on the tread mill for ages, not really for the physical, just to amuse myself really, but even with the get up on, he barely broke a sweat.  The guy has stamina, heart and lungs are excellent, perfect reflexes, he wouldn’t let me check his eyes or his ears, because it would have meant putting the hood back, so I didn’t even bother suggesting checking his prostate, and he was still a bit twitchy around me, but he didn’t make much of a fuss.”

 

“So whatever he is, he’s in peak physical condition?” said Tony.

 

“Well,” said Bruce, “he’s a little underweight for his height, which surprised me, but I think that’s why he wears that get up, to disguise his frame.  He could do with eating a little more really.”

 

“But apart from that?” asked Tony.

 

“Apart from that,” said Bruce, “in terms of physical stamina, strength, health, I think he’d probably give Steve a run for his money.  Who knows, he could have been holding back.  I’d love to give the younger brother a set of tests too, see how they compare, from what we’ve seen I think they have different abilities, but to be honest, I think that’s about as likely to happen as you becoming the pope.”

 

Tony laughed, “Yeah, to say that he’s ‘over protective’ would probably be something of an understatement, huh?”

 

“I can’t really blame them,” said Bruce, “not if they were in Harlem.”

 

“But he didn’t give you any shit?” said Tony.

 

“No,” said Bruce, “he behaved himself for the most part.  I don’t think we’ll ever be BFF’s, braiding each others hair and talking about boys.”

 

“Well you have me for that,” said Tony.

 

“Yes, I do enjoy those nights where we do nothing but eat ice cream and watch romantic comedies, and paint each others toe nails,” said Bruce.

 

“We must do them more often,” said Tony, with a smirk.  “Seriously though, buddy, I’m glad it went over well.”

 

“Yes, me too,” said Bruce, “it’s another thing to cross off the check list at least.”

 

“Are you off to be a do-gooder again tonight?” asked Tony, “Or do you wanna come out?  We could go see a movie?  Maybe grab a beer?”

 

“I have a shift at the free clinic,” said Bruce, “they’ve been short handed recently.”

 

“Bruce,” said Tony putting his hand on his shoulder. “you don’t actually have to become a saint you know.”

 

“Come on, Tony,” said Bruce, “on your epitaph, it’ll probably say something like ‘Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, inventor, innovator, saved the world, adored by millions,’ - I’m just trying to make sure, that mine doesn’t jus say, ‘Hulk smash’.”

 

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” said Tony, seeing the sad expression on his friends face, this wasn’t just some off-hand snarky remark, Bruce really believed that. 

 

“If you keep drinking the way you do,” said Bruce, “I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be the one ordering your headstone, and not the other way around.”

 

“Alright, mother _hen_ ,” said Tony, “point made, now go do your part or they won’t canonise you in time.”

 

“Ok, I’ll see you later,” said Bruce, and he left the workshop leaving the data pad behind. 

 

Tony picked it up curiously and began going over Shadows physical results, Bruce was right, the guy was in excellent shape.  He’d not told Bruce exactly how old he was, but Bruce had made an estimate from the condition of his teeth that he was between his late twenties and early thirties.

 

“If it’s the last thing I do,” Tony muttered to himself, “I’ll get that guy to stop being so infuriatingly mysterious.”

 

“Sir?,” said Jarvis “you have a visitor waiting for you in the penthouse.”

 

“Who?” asked Tony, frowning and putting down the data pad.

 

“Miss Potts is waiting for you, sir,” said Jarvis.

 

Tony felt like his heart was about to pound out of his chest.

 

x-x-x

 

The elevator ride up to the penthouse had never seemed to move more slowly, he’d clenched his fists so hard that his palms had red half moons cut into them, but Tony barely noticed.  The doors slid open and there she was, standing by the window in a Laura Ashley blouse and skirt, her long red hair hung loose and draped around her shoulders. 

 

Her head turned as she must have heard the elevator doors open and she smiled at Tony.  Tony wasn’t sure how much more his heart could take. 

 

“Pepper,” he said, “what have I done to earn a visit from my ex-CEO?”

 

He stepped out of the elevator and headed straight for his bar, only to discover that Bruce, the devious bastard had been and cleaned him out again, so he grabbed a can of pepsi from the fridge and opened it, pouring some into a glass tumbler.

 

“Drink?” offered Tony.

 

“No, thank you,” said Pepper, dear, sweet, beautiful, understanding, Pepper, _oh god, he’d missed her_.  “I was worried.”

 

Well that was a surprise, Bruce had been keeping him on the straight and narrow as much as Bruce could, and even as Shadow had pointed out, his face hadn’t been on page 6 as much lately.

 

“Why?” asked Tony, “What’s brought this on all of a sudden?”

 

“Tony,” said Pepper, “Bruce might have stopped calling, and the pictures might have stopped appearing in the papers, but I still know you, I still care about you, I still _love_ you.  I just can’t let my heart get broken by watching you tear yourself apart.  Not anymore.”

 

“I got news for you, sister,” said Tony, drinking a mouthful of the pepsi, “I’m doing fine, Bruce has me on a leash, I’m getting over it.”

 

“As flattering as it might be for me to think the last few months have been about me,” said Pepper, “they haven’t, Tony.  Your drinking was way out of control, even before I left.”

 

“It wasn’t that bad-”

 

Pepper interrupted him and began listing off things on her fingers, “Bottle of vodka in the medicine cabinet, bottle of vodka in the basket in the bathroom where you keep the extra shampoo, bottle of Jack stuffed behind the sofa, two bottles of Johnny beneath the bed, emergency vodka behind the false panel in the bar, bottle of Jim beside the baked beans in the cupboard, hip flasks of varying quantities hidden behind books and dvds, and those were just the ones I’d found by accident, Tony.”

 

“So I was well stocked,” said Tony, defensively. 

 

“You’re drinking yourself into an early grave,” she said, “and you couldn’t even open up enough to tell me why.”

 

“Why are you here, Pepper?” he asked.

 

“To make sure you were still alive,” she said, “to make sure Bruce hadn’t had to stash your body somewhere and pretend to the public that everything was fine.”

 

“Your concern touches me,” he said.

 

“Tony, I _love_ you,” she said, and that cut into him deeply, “but I just can’t be _with_ you.  I’m not strong enough to sit back and watch you die from up close, knowing there was nothing I could do about it.”

 

“I could change,” said Tony, quietly.

 

“Maybe you could,” said Pepper, “but I don’t think you could change for _me_ , and that’s part of the problem too really, isn’t it?”

 

Well damn her if she wasn’t right about that. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he said. 

 

“I’m sorry, too,” she said. 

 

x-x-x

 

The problem with having Bruce constantly worrying that Tony was going to drink himself to death, was that Bruce kept throwing out all of his booze.  After conducting a thorough search of his floor, Bruce’s floor and the workshop, he struck upon success in the main Avengers floor when he came across a bottle of Glen Fiddich that had been hiding in a cupboard behind a bunch of old paperwork that nobody had ever bothered to fill in. 

 

He was now laid out on the couch, a good quarter of the bottle consumed, one leg dangling over the side, his back propped up with pillows so he didn’t choke every time he took a drink directly from the neck of the bottle. 

 

Somewhere behind him he head the elevator ping, and he assumed it was Bruce, come to drag him away from his beautiful, beautiful drinking, but the voices he heard did not belong to Bruce. 

 

“You sure this is ok?”

 

“Yes, he informed me it was fine.”

 

Ah, Shadow and Spider-man, probably come to raid the fridge.

 

“Well I don’t like hanging around here much,” said Spider-man, “I don’t like the way Iron Man looks at you.”

 

_How the hell do I look at him?_

 

“And how exactly does he look at me?” asked Shadow.

_Yeah, that’s what I would like to know._

 

Tony heard the fridge door open and the rustling of wrappers and packaging. 

 

“I don’t know, bro, I just get a weird vibe off him is all,” said Spider-man, “Like right now, my Spidey sense won’t stop tingling.”

 

“Well, I’m famished, so I’ll make these first,” said Shadow, “then we’ll go have that well earned night off.  I think we’ve both earned one.”

_Huh, so they do take the night off once in a while._

 

“I am very pleased that your studies have been improving,” said Shadow, “you can’t be Spider-man forever and it’s important that you will be able to do something with your life.  You don’t want to be still running around in that ridiculous outfit when you get to Stark and Banners age.”

 

_HEY!_

 

“Speaking of old people,” said Spider-man.

_HEY!  Forty three isn’t old!_

 

“How’d your physical go?” asked the boy.

 

“The beast did not manhandle me,” said Shadow.

 

Now Tony was really pissed.  He’d been called old, he’d been accused of looking at someone funny, and now Bruce had been called a beast, where the hell had he heard that before? 

 

Tony sat up properly, taking a swig from the bottle, leaning his arms on the back of the couch he rested his chin upon them so that now if they glanced in his direction he would be seen.  He expected them to carry on talking as they had been until they noticed him, but the Spider-boy touched his hand to the side of his head and turned, Shadow followed his gaze and now they were both looking directly at him. 

 

“Don’t let me interrupt,” said Tony, cockily.

 

And to his great annoyance, they simply turned their attention back to each other and went back to their conversation.

 

“So I got Starship Troopers and Pitch Black for us to watch tonight,” said Spider-man. 

 

“Any particular reason for those choices,” said Shadow. 

 

“Because one of those movies is about huge bugs called arachnids, and the other is about a planet in complete darkness,” said Tony, interrupting them, “thematic symmetry.”

 

“Because you like monster movies,” said Spider-man, ignoring Tony completely, “and they’re both sci-fi.”

 

“I have those movies,” said Tony, “on dvd and on Blue ray…  I think I still have them on VHS too somewhere.”

 

“I’m happy for you,” said Shadow. 

 

He appeared to have finished making a set of sandwiches, and handed one off to his brother and then bit into one for himself, before tidying away the things he’d got out of the fridge.

 

“Just saying if you want to have a movie night, you could have one here,” said Tony, “fridge is stocked, snacks are abundant.”

 

“Don’t you have your own friends to play with?” asked Spider-man, turning his head to look at him, Tony noticed he’d raised his mask just enough to expose his mouth and eat his sandwich.

 

“Bruce is working at the free clinic tonight,” said Tony, then he took a long drink from his bottle.

 

“Well if you’re pushing to get invited to our movie night, you’re out of luck,” said Spider-man.

 

“Why?” asked Tony.  

 

“Because we need a night off to relax,” said Shadow, “and neither of us could relax if you were there.”

 

“Why, because I’m _old_?” said Tony.

 

“Because we would be unable to remove our masks,” said Shadow.

 

Well they had him there.

 

“Fine, fuck the both of you,” said Tony, “I’ve got my good buddy, Glen here to keep me company.”

 

The brothers finished eating their sandwiches, as Tony sat back in the couch, continuing to drink, they walked across the room and the younger opened one of the windows and jumped out, damn show off, Shadow turned a glance in his direction, then jumped out after his brother, and Tony continued drinking.

 

x-x-x

 

The bottle was half empty when Tony felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up and saw Bruce looking down at him, his face etched with worry. 

 

“Thought you were working tonight,” Tony grumbled, tightening his grip around the bottle so Bruce wouldn’t take it away from him.

 

“I was,” said Bruce, “I got a couple of visitors at the clinic.  They said if I didn’t get back here, I’d probably find you choking on your own vomit in a heap on the floor.”

 

Tony looked up at Bruce, surprised, “They came and found you?”

 

“I was as surprised as you are,” said Bruce, and he sat beside Tony, putting his arm around his shoulders, “what happened?”

 

“Pepper,” said Tony, “she came to see me.”

 

“Christ,” said Bruce, “I take it, it didn’t go well.”

 

“Could have gone better,” he said, “it’s….  it’s over, Bruce, it’s really over.  In the back of my mind I had kinda thought that maybe, eventually she’d come around, but we talked for a few hours and… it’s really over.”

 

“I know, buddy, I know,” said Bruce. 

 

The bottle slipped from Tony’s fingers, clattering onto the floor and spilling its contents everywhere, Tony leaned over and buried his face into Bruce’s shoulder and began heaving, with deep racking sobs, whilst Bruce stroked the back of his head for comfort. 

 


	16. Chapter 16

****

** Chapter Sixteen **

 

Loki was laid on the bed in his room, since it was a ‘night off’ Parker had returned him back to the tower earlier than most nights and it had only just passed 1am, so he had taken off his body armour, but not his hoodie or mask, and was reading one of the books that Stark had given him. 

 

He’d selected this one simply because it had been at the top of the small pile, and he had found himself easily drawn into the story.  Annie had just handed Paul a box of blue diamond tip matches, and she wanted him to burn Fast Cars and Loki could not see how Paul would be able to get out of the situation.  He found himself asking, ‘ _yes, can you, Paulie?_ ’

 

He heard a knock on his door and groaned, making sure to stick a scrap of paper between the pages so he didn’t loose his place, he sat up and looked at the door, “Who is it?”  an almost perfunctory question since it really could only be one of two people, neither of whom he particularly felt like conversing with, but he may not be given a choice in the matter.

 

“It’s…”  there was a pause of consideration, “Bruce Banner, may I come in?”

 

Loki knew that the option to say ‘no’ didn’t really exist. 

 

“The door is unlocked,” he said.  Banner could count that as close to an invitation as he would give.

 

The door handle turned and Banner entered, he looked tired and worn, the arm of his glasses held between his finger tips as he wiped his forehead and then replaced them on his face.  Loki noted that his shirt was crumpled and damp, particularly along the shoulder, two spots on the chest looked from the crumpled patterns that they’d been pulled and held by two fists and he wondered exactly what the doctor had been up to, to look even more dishevelled than normally looked.

 

“I, er, wanted to thank you,” said Banner, barely lifting his gaze upwards, “for coming to tell me about Tony.”

 

_Oh yeah, that._

 

“Thanks are not necessary,” said Loki.

 

“I think they are,” said Banner, “you went out of your way, the both of you, to tell me so I could help him.  I just… I just don’t understand why.”

 

_So that I didn’t get the blame if he got so drunk he went outside and fell off the platform in his penthouse?  So he didn’t choke on his own vomit and fall down the stairs?  So he didn’t stink up the kitchen I use by covering it in his own drunken feculence?  That’s not really what you want to hear though, is it, Banner?_

 

“He was in pain,” said Loki, “he needed you.”

 

Banner pointed to the chair by his desk, “May I?” he asked.  Loki nodded after a few seconds and the doctor pulled out the chair and sat on it, facing him.  “Do you know what happened?”

 

“I do not,” said Loki, “I simply thought it best if you were made aware of the situation.” 

 

“Well his ex turned up,” said Banner, running his hand through his unkempt hair, “I don’t so much think it’s set him back as, I think he’s finally realised that it’s definitely over between them.  He’s a little heartbroken, but to be honest, he was heading this way before she left.”

 

“Why are you telling me this, Banner?” asked Loki, displeased that his reading had been interrupted and his room invaded by the beast.  “The details of Stark’s love life are not something which I care to spend my nights mulling over.”

 

“Because I can’t be around here twenty four hours a day,” said Banner, “between the Avengers, working with Tony trying to figure out where these robots that were attacking the streets came from, the odd day I actually get to do my own work, my commitments to the free clinic and the trauma centre, I can be with him as much as I can, but sometimes I actually need to leave the tower and he doesn’t leave much these days.  Well, apart from he’s sneaking off to a bar to get drunk.”

 

“Oh, Banner,” said Loki, sitting forward, “I hope you’re not about to ask me to become Stark’s glorified baby sitter.”

 

“No, no,” said Banner, shaking his head, “just, I’m going to cut back on my obligations as much as I can.  I know he’s my responsibility to take care of, but on the days if I absolutely must leave, if he starts drinking heavily, just ask Jarvis to call me, or come get me, like tonight, if you have to leave to do your own thing.  I know I’m the one who has to take care of him, it’s just I’ll go crazy if I’m locked up in here all the time.”

 

“Just call you?” said Loki, “Or inform you in person if it feasible?  That’s all you’re asking?”

 

“Yes,” said Banner, “just get Jarvis to call me.”

 

“I have but one question,” said Loki.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Who is Jarvis?”

 

Banner seemed completely thrown by Loki’s question, but Loki didn’t think it was entirely unreasonable, he hadn’t been introduced to any Jarvis in the tower.  Was he expected to memorise the names and faces of every person who worked there?

 

“You don’t know who Jarvis is?” said Banner.

 

“I thought I had inferred that by asking ‘who is Jarvis?’” said Loki, “I had been informed that you were supposed to be a genius, Banner, clearly I was deceived.”

 

“No, it’s just…” said Banner, “Jarvis?  Can you hear me?”

 

Loki looked around the room to see who the hell it was Banner was talking to, “Is Jarvis a voice inside your head, Banner?”

 

“He’s the tower’s computer system,” said Banner, “he must not have a presence in your room.” 

 

Banner stood to his feet and opened the door to Loki’s room, he watched curiously as Banner stepped into the hallway and repeated his question and to Loki’s surprise, he heard a male voice respond.  Banner came back into the room and retook his seat.

 

“Yeah, there are no cameras or mics in your room so he can’t hear me in here,” said Banner, “but 99% of the rest of the building, he’s around.  Just call out ‘Jarvis’ and he’ll talk to you.”

 

“This is most interesting,” said Loki, “it would have been helpful to know prior to this.”

 

“To be honest I thought you would have known about him by now,” said Banner, “he pretty much regulates the building.  He’s a very smart computer, but at the end of the day, he’s still a computer, so if Tony goes on a bender, and tells him not to tell anyone, he won’t.”

 

“I understand,” said Loki, “all right, it’s not an unreasonable request,” he paused and sighed, “and to a degree I understand how you much be feeling about the situation with Stark.  Since I am here, I an unable to watch my brother to the extent I used to watch over him and it leaves me with a certain amount of, _anxiety_ , shall we say?  Anxiety that I am not there to protect him at all times.”

 

Banner’s breath hitched.  “He’s not,” he said, “he’s not living rough though is he?  I mean, he does have a place to go to and be looked after.  You weren’t lying before were you?  He does have a relative he’s staying with?”

 

“Of course,” said Loki, “what kind of monster do you think I am?  If there were no one else, then I would have had no choice but to bring him here alongside me, but he has an aunt.  He needs as much of a normal life as he can get.”

 

“I remember normal life,” said Banner, “it was a brief period in ‘89 I think, about two months, it was pretty nice.”

 

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” said Loki, “I don’t want him to go down the road that I went down, he’s a smart boy.”

 

“How smart?” asked Banner, “maybe I could…”

 

“Forget it, Banner,” said Loki, “this is not the start of a beautiful friendship.  We wear masks for a reason, I do not want him revealing his identity to anyone and I do not want him hanging around this tower, thinking that one day being an Avenger, losing his anonymity, giving up any chance of having a normal life is a good idea.”

 

“Sorry,” muttered Banner, “you know what’s best for him, of course.”

 

“Just as you know what is best for Stark,” said Loki, “even if he fights you all the way.”

 

“It’s late,” said Banner, standing, “I should leave you to your evening.  Thank you for speaking to me.”

 

x-x-x

 

Loki really did not think that Banners request would come into play as quickly as it did.  Two nights after Banner had appeared in his room, he was out of the tower at some medical place or another in the city, trying to do his part to make up for the beast inside him.  Parker was at his internship and so wouldn’t be picking up Loki until later than normal, leaving Loki with nothing to do but either read or wander around the areas of the tower he had permission to be in. 

 

Of course, he’d never been explicitly _told_ he was banned from Stark’s workshop, so when he hit the elevator down button, he quietly hummed to himself, trying to appear innocent, until the doors opened and he poked his head inside, seeing benches laid out with tools and broken robots in various stages of disassembly.  He knew he could claim he’d come down for some innocuous reason if questioned, but he really wanted to see if Stark had any tools which may pry the damned magic blocking  rune bracelet from his wrist. 

 

He had assumed at first he was alone, but Stark was sat silently on the floor, behind one of the benches not noticing Loki’s presence, rolling a bottle of alcohol between his hands.

 

Loki cursed under his breath and then walked around the bench, looking down at Stark, “How much of that have you drank?”

 

“Haven’t opened it yet,” said Stark, “you’re not supposed to be down here.”

 

“My staff’s cracked,” said Loki, “needed to borrow a tool to repair it.”

 

“Staff?” said Stark, “I’ve seen that stupid thing you lug around, it looks more like a broom handle to me.”

 

“It _is_ a broom handle,” said Loki.

 

“Why do you use a broom handle?” said Stark, looking up at him, “why don’t you get a proper weapon?”

 

“You’d be surprised how few people want to give away their proper fighting staffs,” said Loki, “not a great abundance to be found on the city streets.”

 

“I bet ya I could build one,” said Tony, “collapsible, easy to carry, still strong when it’s extended.”

 

“Yes, I’m sure you could,” said Loki, “but I could not, so may I borrow a tool to repair my _broom handle_?”

 

Stark looked up at him, “No, get the fuck out of my workshop.”

 

Loki stretched his hand down, “Give me the bottle, Stark.”

 

“No,” he said, pulling it towards himself, “this is mine, I’m going to drink it, get shit-faced, it’s what I do.”

 

“If you do not relinquish it,” said Loki, “I will be forced to call Banner and he will return and _make_ you relinquish it.”

 

Tony unscrewed the lid from the bottle and took a long drink, “No one asked you to be my babysitter, fuck off, Puck.”

 

Loki sighed, it would be so easy to end all of this now by strangling Stark to death, finding something to break the damn bracelet off with and then finding a really good hiding place.  So very easy, such a small, easily breakable neck, one hand would probably do it.  He could picture the sound of the snap now, it was probably the most satisfying sound in the world.

 

He groaned.  “ _Jarvis_?” said Loki, he’d not had an occasion to summon the computer as Banner had told him to, and he was unsure if he was simply making a fool of himself.

 

“Yes, Sir?” said a voice from the ceiling.

 

Loki looked up automatically, “Would you please call Doctor Banner and inform him his presence is required in the tower.”

 

“Right away, sir,” said the computer.

 

“Jarvis, disregard,” said Stark, standing to his feet, “do not take commands from Shadow.”

 

“As you wish, sir,” said Jarvis.

 

Loki growled, “Jarvis?”

 

“Yes, sir?” said the computer.

 

“If Stark’s life was in danger, and he was unable to speak to you himself, would you bypass his order and allow me to issue you a command?” asked Loki.

 

“Yes, sir,” said Jarvis.

 

“Ok, good,” said Loki, and he punched Stark square in the jaw, dislocating it instantly, he guessed from the popping sound it made, knocking him to the floor, and causing him to drop the bottle which shattered on the floor, spilling it’s contents.  “Well, that solves that problem.”

 

Stark held his jaw and writhed in agony on the ground, it was a sight which filled Loki with a deep sense of satisfaction.  Then he considered how much trouble he was going to get in over this and how likely it was that he’d either end up in the detention cells, or worse, that SHIELD would be called straight away and he’d be well and truly fucked.

 

He held out his hand to Stark, “If you allow me, I can fix your jaw for you now,” he said, “or you can wait until Banner arrives, which may take him some time, and he can fix it for you.”

 

Stark glared up at him, seeming to consider the two options and just as Loki had started planning an apology note to Parker in his head for screwing his life up, Stark held out his hand and Loki pulled him to his feet.  He pushed a bunch of tools off the work bench, out of the way, ignoring Stark’s protestations and then ordered him to jump up onto the work bench. 

 

Stark complied and Loki placed his hands on either side of Stark’s face, “This will hurt for a moment,” he said, and then pushed the jaw back in place, where there was a massive pop and Stark let out a yelp of pain, but before he could pull away, Loki used a little magic, he didn’t have to use much, to heal the soreness. 

 

He released his hold and stood back, “Better?”

 

Stark nodded and rubbed his jaw, “That was completely uncalled for, Puck.”

 

“You left me with little option,” said Loki, “Banner was quite insistent that you not be permitted to kill yourself.”

 

“Sir,” said the computer, “can you handle this situation, or do you wish for me to call the Avengers to help restrain your house guest?”

 

“No thanks, Jarvis,” said Stark, “I got this one.”

 

“As you wish, sir,” said Jarvis.

 

Stark launched himself off the workbench at Loki, and it actually caught him off guard enough to knock him to the ground, bashing his head off a solid metal piece of equipment on the way down, which might have been hard enough to kill him if he’d been a Midgardian, but as it was, barely left him dazed.

 

“You fucking shit,” Stark spat at him, “who the fuck do you think you are?  I don’t need a fucking baby sitter.”

 

“Banner seems to think otherwise,” said Loki, grabbing Stark’s wrists and trying to pull him back since he was now pinned beneath him and the knock to the head had slowed him somewhat.

 

“Do not tell me that Bruce asked _you_ to baby sit _me,_ ” said Stark.

 

“Well he did!” said Loki.

 

Stark’s face changed somewhat then, the expression of anger shifting into disbelief. 

 

“Why?” he asked, pulling up, letting go of Loki’s arms. 

 

Loki actually felt sorry for him, Parker must be making his brains go soft. 

 

“Because he’s scared you’re going to die,” said Loki, “he’s scared he’s going to leave you alone for a few hours, and when he comes back you’ll be lying dead, having drank yourself to death.  So he was that desperate, he came to me, a person who has made no secret of his dislike, he put himself in that situation for _you_.”

 

Stark seemed to consider this seriously for a few minutes, then he looked down at Loki, “Huh, well, poor Brucie,” he said, then he tilted his head curiously, “your eyes.”

 

Loki panicked, realising that in the scuffle his hood had been knocked back completely, and it lent so much to creating a shadow over his cowl, helping to disguise his face, his stomach knotted with dread, he might be snapping Stark’s neck after all.

 

“Think it’s the first time I’ve actually seen ‘em,” said Stark, “was beginning to suspect that you didn’t even have them.  Wouldn’t have guessed green.  Blue, maybe.  Not sure why.”

 

“Um,” said Loki, “as fascinating as this is, think you can get off me now, Stark?”

 

“Er, yeah,” said Stark, lifting himself and standing up, “sorry.” 

 

Loki pushed himself up on his elbows and then stood himself, pulling his hood back over his face.  “Well I did dislocate your jaw, it was probably justified.”

 

There was a long awkward silence between them, Loki was really beginning to regret not just wrapping his fingers around Stark’s neck and saving himself the horrid, awkward silence. 

 

“You want a beer?” asked Stark. 

 

“You’re not supposed to be drinking,” said Loki.

 

“Beer isn’t drinking,” said Stark, “whiskey is my problem really, and vodka, occasionally brandy, touch of rum now and then, but Bruce doesn’t really worry about beer.” 

 

“All right then,” said Loki, hoping to placate Stark until either Parker or Banner arrived, he really didn’t care which, as long as he wasn’t going to be locked away for punching Stark in the face, as enjoyable as it was.

 

They got into the elevator and went up to Stark’s penthouse since he had beer in fridge there, and Stark brought out a six pack, placing it on the coffee table, insisting they both sit on the sofa while he opened two and passed one to Loki, tapping the bottom of the bottles together. 

 

“Cheers,” said Stark.

 

“Yeah, cheers,” said Loki, he took a sip of the beer, it tasted much like Asgardian ale, or at least a very much watered down version, never one of his favourite drinks, but he could sip it without fuss. 

 

“I’ll put on a movie,” said Stark.

 

_Fan-fucking-tastic, this is just what you get for not choking the life out of him and having done with it, consequences be damned.  I hope you’re happy with yourself now, Loki, you complete and utter arse._

 

Stark got up and flicked through several boxes and then selected a movie and place it inside the dvd player and then sat back on the couch with Loki, both drinking silently as the movie began playing. 

 

Loki wondered if this was about to become a regular part of his life in the tower, having to sit with Stark and watch movies with him to make sure he didn’t drown himself in alcohol.  He supposed if it was just sitting and watching a movie, it wouldn’t be that bad of a punishment.

 

The film seemed to be about a group of teenagers drinking on a beach, then two broke away from the group to go swimming, the girl in the movie stripped off her girls and dove into the water, Loki sipped his beer, he hoped the whole movie wasn’t like this.  Then suddenly there was something watching the girl from below, and she was tugged down, and began panicking and Loki sat forward as the girl on the screen began thrashing about and screaming in the water. 

 

“Holy shit,” said Stark, “have you not seen this before?”

 

 _Oh shit, arse, tit, wank, fuck, bollocks_. 

 

This was clearly another ‘Jurassic Park’ situation, and since there would be no way of guessing what the rest of the movie would be like, Loki’s choices were, confess that he hadn’t, or strangle Stark to death.  It was an incredibly tough decision.  His hand twitched.

 

“No, I haven’t” said Loki, “I wasn’t allowed to watch movies when I was growing up.”

 

“Holy shit, Puck,” said Stark, and he looked positively delighted, which surprised Loki to no end, “I’ve never watched this with someone who hasn’t seen it before, oh sit back man, you’re going to fucking love it.”

 

Loki sat back and they watched.  Three beers each later, Stark got up and retrieved another six pack, at one point Loki had, had to grip the sofa to physically restrain himself from jumping out of the seat as one of the characters had been exploring a damaged boat under water and a head had suddenly floated out towards him.  Now the three men in the movie were on a boat, trying to catch the monstrous fish which has been tearing apart the people on the screen, and just as the Sheriff doled a ladle of blood into the water, the monster appeared and Loki couldn’t stop himself from jumping that time.

 

“OH, SHIT!” he shouted.

 

Stark tittered to himself, Loki had to stop watching these movies with people expecting him to jump out of his seat at the surprising parts.  They’d both downed a forth beer by the time the movie had ended and Loki’s heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest from how much he’d enjoyed watching it.  Stark opened two fresh bottles and handed him one which he took a drink from straight away.

 

“Wasn’t that awesome?” said Stark.

 

“Yes,” said Loki, he couldn’t disagree, “I think it was excellent.”

 

“What was your favourite part?” he said, with a kind of excited gleam in his eyes.

 

“I enjoyed the camaraderie on the boat,” said Loki, “I must say though, this may be almost as good as my favourite movie.”

 

“What is your favourite movie?” asked Stark. 

 

“Jurassic Park,” Loki answered straight away.  He licked his lips, his mouth and tongue had felt dry throughout the film, despite the beer, he wondered if the beer had an affect to dehydrate as he’d briefly noticed Stark doing the same thing at various points as they’d been sat together.

 

“Oh, the bit where the raptor comes through the pipes?” said Stark, “I swear the first time I saw that movie, I jumped right out of my seat.”

 

“As did I,” said Loki, taking another drink of his beer. 

 

“Want to watch another?” said Stark, “You like monster movies, right?  I’ll put on Rogue, it’s about a giant crocodile, you’ll love it.”

 

It took another beer, but Loki was becoming acutely aware of something as the completely terrifying, gigantic crocodile ripped apart another character on the screen.  He and Stark had begun the evening at opposite ends of the sofa, but somehow between getting up to change dvds and reaching for more beer and Loki continually jumping out of his seat, they’d edged closer together, and this was beginning to make Loki feel very uncomfortable.

 

He wasn’t sure if it was the beer or the movies, but he had a certain pounding in his chest, and he wasn’t entirely sure if Stark was trying to just lull him into a false sense of security in order to rip off his mask.  He thanked the gods silently in his head for the domino which would provide him with some extra protective if Stark tried anything.

 

“May I use your facilities?” he asked, standing up.

 

“Huh?  Sure,” said Tony, pausing the movie, “it’s through there,” he pointed at the bedroom door, “too many beers huh?”

 

“Yes,” said Loki, and he hurried to the bathroom, discovering that when he reached the toilet he did actually need to relieve himself, so he did and zipped himself back up, washing his hands and then exiting the bathroom, finding himself face to face with Stark, well almost face to face, he was taller than the Iron Man. 

 

“Needed to go myself,” said Stark. 

 

“Oh right,” said Loki, stepping to the right, to move out of Stark’s way, only to find Stark had stepped to the right also, they both made a nervous laugh, and Loki stepped to the left and Stark did the same, and so Loki put his hand out, signalling Stark to stop moving and they he stepped back to the right, getting out of Stark’s way completely and went back into the main room, sitting himself back on the end of the sofa where he had started the night. 

 

He picked up his beer, draining the contents and opened a new one, after a few minutes, Stark returned and sat back on the sofa, more towards the middle. 

 

“You know,” he said, taking a drink from his own beer bottle, “I’ve been wondering how the hell you even see the movie with that hood covering half your face.”

 

“I can see fine,” said Loki taking a drink, “if I couldn’t I would have pulled it up a bit.”

 

_So Stark was attempting to de-mask him, the devious bastard, if his hand comes within six inches of my face I’ll snap his fingers off._

 

“Whatever you say,” said Stark, un-pausing the movie.

 

They continued to watch, but Loki couldn’t help keeping his eye trained now on Stark, his hand was twitching, he was continually licking his lips, his eyes seemed to glance at Loki every so often and his entire behaviour was making Loki nervous, a bubble of anticipation forming in his chest.

 

Stark moved as if he was about to moved across the sofa, then stopped, running his hands through his hair in frustration, pausing the dvd again, and Loki looked at him. 

 

“Fuck, _fuck_ ,” said Stark.

 

“What is it?” asked Loki, “what’s wrong with you?”

 

“I don’t know why I’m doing this,” said Stark.

 

_Doing WHAT, Stark you infuriating mortal?  Attempting to de-mask me?  Attempting to get me drunk on your pitiful ale? Trying to tempt me into snapping your neck?   Showing me a movie I haven’t seen before?  What the hell are you talking about?_

 

“Because I like monster movies?” he said eventually, having absolutely no idea what the man was talking about. 

 

“No.   _Shit_ ,” said Stark, standing up, “I was, _Jesus Christ_ , I don’t even know why I was doing it.  Lonely, I guess, too many beers, sorry.”

 

“What on earth are you _drivelling_ about?” asked Loki, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Stark.  Will you just make yourself clear for once?  Why are you behaving like this?”

 

“Oh, fuck it,” said Stark, “we’re not friends anyway.”

 

And the next thing Loki knew Starks fingers were around his cheeks and his lips were pressing against his mouth.

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

** Chapter Seventeen **

 

Tony’s heart was pounding.

 

He wasn’t sure what it was about being punched in the face that got his blood going, aside from the sheer agony of having his jaw dislocated, but once that was all fine and dandy, his heart was still pounding in his chest, and somehow he’d ended up pinning Shadow to the floor of the workshop. 

 

He was suddenly very aware of his weight on top of Shadow, and the fact that the clunker he had taken to the head seconds beforehand should have knocked him out, but he merely appeared dazed.  Making what excuses he could, about eyes and his mouth babbling something his brain wasn’t entirely sure about, he eventually got to his feet and before he knew it, they were heading up to the penthouse to drink beer.

 

Tony really didn’t know what was wrong with him, although he had the feeling it might have had something to do with the quarter bottle of vodka he’d consumed before Shadow had found him and robbed him of his whiskey, then added several beers on top of that, but for most of JAWS all he could think about was Shadow, and how his lips wrapped around the neck of the beer bottle, his tongue pressing on the underside of the glass as he took a drink. 

 

His heart was pumping so hard he wasn’t sure if it was going to come out of his chest.

_What’s wrong with you?  You like **girls**._

 

Ok, that was a little lie.  Tony _generally_ liked girls.  He was a huge fan of boobs, boobs were definitely in his top ten favourite things in life, but there’d been some fumblings in college, and a few unreturned phone calls to Johnny Depp, just to see if he _could_. 

 

Maybe it was the mystery, of not knowing anything about Shadow besides a name and a smattering of things like, he liked monster movies, and he was English, and at one point lived in Harlem.  Or maybe it was the mystery of not knowing what his face looked like, because that was slowly driving him insane too. 

 

Or maybe it was none of those things.  Maybe it was him punching him square in the face, fuck knows Tony had indulged in more kinky stuff than that over the years.  Maybe it was because Shadow seemed so thoroughly unimpressed that he was sitting and drinking beers with Tony Stark.  _Tony Stark_.  Usually that name was enough to have a woman dropping her knickers in front of him, but Shadow seemed to genuinely not give a shit who he was. 

 

And that was pissing him off too.

 

When Shadow got up to use the bathroom, only then did Tony realise how closely they’d moved towards one another in their seats, Shadow had moved as much as he had, he hoped he hadn’t imagined that. 

 

Something took over Tony, a deep, lonely ache inside him, in reality he was still mourning for the loss of Pepper so he had no idea how his feet has brought him to the bathroom door, images of him pushing Shadow up against the wall, - if he’d let him, the dude was _strong_ \- and kissing him fiercely on the mouth and he’d just pushed this mental image from his brain, with the intent of turning and going back to sit on the sofa, when the door opened and he was caught, and they’d ended up doing the “excuse me, no excuse me,” - dance, back and forth, before he’d finally got inside to splash cold water against his face and maybe bring back a little sanity.

 

He returned to the sofa, and after un-pausing, and re-pausing the movie, cursing at himself for the way he was acting and the thoughts going through his head.  Shadow clearly confused by the situation.

 

 _What are you doing?  You complete idiot!  You are Tony Stark, you are Mr Smooth, what are you worried about?  Ruining a potential friendship?  You have Bruce.  When was the last time you actually **wanted** to kiss someone?  Someone who wasn’t Pepper?  You swore to yourself you’d do something about it.  Besides, you can afford a little sexual harassment suit if it comes to that.  He’s staring at you, stop talking to yourself inside your own head and **do**_ _something._

 

So he looked at Shadow, and said, “Oh, fuck it, we’re not friends anyway.”  He moved towards Shadow and put his hands around his face, pressing his lips to Shadows thin ones, then he found himself being shoved backwards with a huge force, landing on the coffee table on his ass, knocking over empty beer bottles and sending them everywhere. 

 

Shadow stood to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, saying nothing and then silently walking to the elevator, pressing the call button. 

 

_Shit.  You idiot._

 

Tony stood up, “Shit,” he said out loud this time, “Puck, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

 

His hand began frantically pressing the call button, he could not get away from Tony fast enough. 

 

“Puck, seriously, man, I’m sorry,” said Tony, “I don’t know what came over me, I’m like a complete twat, a complete, drunk, twat.  I’m sorry.”

 

More frantic button pushing.

 

“Puck, will you say something, please?” said Tony, “tell me to go fuck myself or, something, Jesus.”

 

The elevator doors opened and Shadow practically threw himself inside keeping his back to Tony until they had closed again, Tony growled in frustration, now feeling horribly sober and embarrassed that he’d kissed a guy who hadn’t invited him to, a guy he was, for all intense purposes, keeping prisoner, even if the cell doors were kept open. 

 

“Shit,” said Tony and then he kicked the coffee table as hard as he could, sending it rolling a feet across the room and instantly breaking his foot in the process.  He screamed in agony and held his leg as he dropped into the sofa. 

 

“JARVIS!” he shouted, “CALL BRUCE AND TELL HIM TO GET HIS ASS UP HERE NOW.”

 

The computer complied, and Tony had no choice but to curl into a ball on the sofa, holding his leg, for thirty, long, agonising minutes until the elevator for the penthouse pinged again and Bruce came rushing inside, spotting the upturned coffee table and the beer bottles everywhere, then looked down at Tony.

 

“What the _hell_ happened?” he asked, kneeling down beside him.

 

“I kicked the coffee table,” said Tony, “I think I’ve broke my foot.”

 

“Why would you kick the coffee table?” asked Bruce, and he grabbed Tony’s arm, hooking it over his shoulders and pulling him up, so that Tony could lean in and hold onto him, as he hopped over to the elevator. 

 

“Er,” said Tony, clinging onto Bruce, hopping as Bruce opened the doors and helped him inside, “I might have done something, really, really stupid.”

 

“Oh, Tony,” said Bruce, hitting the button for the medical floor, “you didn’t drunk dial Pepper did you?”

 

_Drunk dialling, let’s go with that._

 

“I _might_ have drunk dialled Pepper,” said Tony, well, it wasn’t exactly a lie per say, he might have drunk dialled Pepper, ok he didn’t but he _could_ have.

 

“Tony,” said Bruce, shaking his head, “what am I going to do with you, buddy?  Can’t I leave you alone for a few hours?”

 

“Apparently not,” said Tony, “though if it makes you feel any better, I was drunk on quite strong, import beer, and I’m horribly sober now.”

 

“You know, that does make me feel better,” said Bruce, “that makes me feel a lot better actually.”

 

They went down to the medical floor and Bruce inspected his foot, Tony insisted on not going to the real hospital since they had everything they needed aside from an x-ray machine which Bruce wasn’t happy about as he said it might have to be pinned, but Tony put his proverbial foot down, since his actual foot hurt too much and Bruce gave him painkillers, strapped it up and ordered him to have bed rest for a few days, then get about with crutches when he was able. 

 

x-x-x

 

“So what did Fury say?” asked Bruce a few days after the coffee table kicking incident, when Tony was heading down with him in the elevator to the workshop.

 

“Fury angry,” said Tony, “Fury smash.”

 

“Yeah, I thought that might have been his reaction,” said Bruce, “you better hope and pray that nothing happens in the next few weeks because there’s no way you’re going to be able to properly operate your suit until you can bend your foot properly.”

 

“Tell me something I don’t know,” said Tony, “I built the damn thing, I know how it works, quit nagging me.”

 

He felt so embarrassed with himself over the incident with Shadow, that he still hadn’t told Bruce about, and had absolutely no plans to, since having Bruce continually mock and chide him over it did not seem like the most fun thing to do.  So when Fury had asked him for his one month assessment on Shadow and Spider-man’s probation, Tony had given the most glowing report in the history of all glowing reports. 

 

Shadow had done no wrong, Shadow could not be more perfect, Shadow was a totally legitimate guy just trying to watch out for his little brother and the likelihood was that in a couple of years they’d both disappear and they’d never hear from them again. 

 

Fury had taken Tony’s assessment under advisement and made mention to a possible field testing observation that left Tony feeling a bit sick as there was _no way_ he’d be able to talk Shadow into doing one of those, not now.

 

The elevator doors opened on the workshop floor and they both stepped off, it was exactly as it had been left after Shadow had punched him and dislocated his jaw and the smashed bottle of whiskey was still in pieces on the floor by his main work bench. 

 

Bruce eyed it suspiciously, “What happened there?”

 

“I knocked the bottle off the table,” said Tony, “that’s why I switched to beer.”

 

Bruce seemed to accept this and went to a utility closet and retrieved a broom to sweep up the pieces of broken glass.  The sight of the broom flashes a memory in Tony’s mind, the reason that Shadow had come down to the workshop in the first place. 

 

He felt more guilty.  Here he was, a billionaire, infinite money at his disposal, all the best toys, if something was broken he could repair it or replace it, he had an entire tower of playthings at his fingertips, then there was Shadow, some guy who’d changed his entire life to look after his kid brother after his parents had been killed, struggling to get by, trying to do the right thing, had hardly seen any movies, only had one book and from Tony had seen, no more than 3 sets of clothes if that.  Going onto the streets every night to fight muggers and stop car thieves and break up bar fights, putting his life in danger and all the while, all he had to protect himself with was a broom handle.  And Tony, had told him he couldn’t even borrow the use of one of his tools to repair it. 

 

Tony was a shit. 

 

He could not deny it, what a complete and utter shit he’d been to the guy.  And then he’d kissed him, _oh god_ , what the hell had he been thinking?  He owed Shadow big time.

 

“Jarvis, new project,” he said.

 

“What?” said Bruce, putting the broom away, “what new project?  We’ve got attack bot stuff to get on with.”

 

“Ah, it won’t take long,” said Tony, “besides we’re getting nowhere with this stuff and I could use the break.  We’re just going round and round in circles on it, we really suck, we might have to admit defeat soon.”

 

“Well, what did you have in mind?” asked Bruce.

 

Tony told him, only skipping over the details behind his motivation.   Bruce left in the evening, to head out to the unit for trauma out-patients to do, whatever the hell it was Bruce did when he went there, Tony wasn’t sure, but Tony kept working and by the time Bruce returned around 10, Tony actually had a working prototype constructed. 

 

“Ok!” said Tony, pleased with his work and handing it to Bruce, “you try it out.”

 

“Why me?” said Bruce, picking up the item which looked like a black baton. 

 

“Because I’m trying to stand on crutches here,” said Tony.

 

“ _Fine_ ,” said Bruce, and he twisted the middle ring in the centre of the baton, the ends flew out and he tested how solid they were by knocking them on the floor.  “It looks like it works fine to me.”

 

“Fantastic,” said Tony, hobbling towards the elevator, “Well, I spoke to Fury today, so you can go drop it off in Shadow’s room for him.”

 

“ _Me_?” said Bruce, turning and staring at him in disbelief, “why _me_?  He _hates_ me.”

 

_Not as much as he probably hates me right now, I’m sure._

 

“Well, it’ll help put you in his good graces,” said Tony, the elevator doors opened and Tony hobbled inside and hit the button for the penthouse, “GOOD LUCK!” he shouted as the doors closed, leaving Bruce standing there seething.

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

** Chapter Eighteen **

 

_Goddamn Bruce._

 

Never send a coward to do another cowards job.  Tony had expected some sort of commentary, a lecture, _something_ , because he did not doubt that Shadow would have spilled the beans about Tony’s little indiscretion but Bruce had said nothing and Tony had been too much of a coward to ask Bruce how it had gone down. 

 

Eventually he’d caved after a few days and decided to review the security footage from the corridor, he watched Bruce knock on the door, he watched him wait, then lent the new metal staff against the door frame and left. 

 

Tony brought it forward to live feed, the staff was leaning against the door in the exact place that Bruce had left it. 

 

“Jarvis?” said Tony, “has Shadow left him room at all since the other night?”

 

“According to my records, sir,” said Jarvis, “Shadow has only left his assigned room via the window, he has not ventured into the rest of the tower.”

 

Tony groaned, _fucking brilliant_.

 

He had two choices, hobble down there on his crutches, swallow his pride and apologise, or go get shit-faced at a bar somewhere. 

 

Then he spotted Bruce, entering the workshop, looking worn out, shirt crumpled, the same one he’d been wearing the day before, he’d pulled an all-nighter at the free clinic and then come straight to the work shop to help Tony on their problem with the bots.  _Goddamn_ Bruce, why did he have to be such a saint?

 

Tony got up from his stool and grabbed his crutches, “Hey, Bruce,” he said, “I’m just popping out for a little bit, ok, Buddy?”

 

“Sure,” said Bruce rubbing the heal of his hand across tired eyes, “I’ll be here.”

 

“I know you will,” said Tony.

 

He hobbled on his crutches to the elevator and hit the button for floor 47.  Tony swallowed a hard knot inside his throat as he stood outside of Shadow’s door, the staff still leaning where Bruce had left it, he raised his hand and wrapped his knuckles on the wood. 

 

Fifty agonising seconds of silence, then, “Who is it?”

 

“It’s Tony,” he said, “can I come in?”

 

More silence.  “The door is not locked.”

 

Tony tried, but couldn’t quite manage to gain proper purchase on the handle and keep himself balanced on the crutches.

 

“Er,” he said, “I can’t open the door.”

 

“It’s not locked,” said Shadow. 

 

“Yes, but, I still can’t open it,” said Tony.

 

He heard some shuffling and a burst of colourful British swear words, then the door opened.  Shadow stood in the door frame, his face in a deep frown, then his lips parted slightly. 

 

“What happened?” he asked. 

 

“Had a fight with a coffee table and lost,” said Tony, then indicated his head at the staff, “that’s for you.”

 

Shadow picked up the staff and turned his back on Tony and walked inside his room, Tony hobbled in and then suddenly Shadow swirled the staff between his hands, first using both, then switching to just his right, then his left, then swiftly bringing it to rest an inch from Tony’s neck. 

 

He flinched. 

 

Shadow shrugged his shoulders, “It’s evenly balanced,” he said, “is it a bribe?”

 

Tony smiled, “More of a peace offering.  See there’s a ring in the middle there?  Twist it.”

 

He did and then Tony noted a satisfied smirk play across his mouth, as the ends of the staff retracted, turning it into a short baton.  Shadow twisted it back and the ends shot out and he tapped the end on the floor.

 

“Impressive,” he said, “my brother will be jealous that I have a new toy.”

 

Tony smirked, “Is it ok if I sit?  My foot’s killing me.”

 

“Do as you please,” said Shadow, twisting the ring again and then laying the baton down on his desk.

 

Tony seated himself on the bed, sticking his leg out and rubbing the calf to ease it,  “So, I’m sorry about the other night,” he said, “I was actually having a good time, drinking beer and watching movies, then I had to go and be a jerk.”

 

Shadow sat on the bed, a good space between them, Tony noted, “I’m just confused as to why you would do that.”

 

“Just because I’m a genius, doesn’t mean I’m not a moron,” said Tony, “I do stupid shit, it’s kinda my thing, it’s why I’m always in the paper.”

 

“Well I have to say,” said Shadow, “of all the ways you could have attempted to remove my mask, it was certainly not the first way I would have guessed you’d try.”

 

“What?” said Tony, shaking his head, “that’s what you thought I was trying to do?”

 

“Well, yes,” said Shadow, “what else would you be trying to do?”

 

“Well didn’t sex cross your mind?” said Tony.

 

And he immediately regretted saying it as an incredibly awkward silence fell between them.

 

Being able to stand it no longer after two minutes, Tony spoke again, “What I meant was, that I tried to kiss you because I wanted to kiss you, I wasn’t trying covertly de-mask you or anything.”

 

“Oh,” said Shadow, eventually.  “So, you _wanted_ to kiss me?”

 

“I-” Tony looked down at his hands, thumbs twiddling in his lap, “yeah.  Yeah I did.”

 

“Do you still want to kiss me?” asked Shadow, without missing a beat.

 

Tony looked up, he could see that Shadow’s lips were glistened with a thin layer of spit, and they were parted just slightly and without even realising it, Tony had swept his tongue across his own. 

 

“Yes, I think I do,” said Tony. 

 

Shadow lent towards him, Tony lent at the same time, and simultaneously they shifted to help close the gap between them, and their lips met.  Tony sucked in a breath through his nose as a set of long fingers dug themselves into his hair, lips parted, tongues touched and Tony realised he was in free fall, he just hoped someone was there to catch him.

 

x-x-x

 

“Would you quit it,” said Bruce as Tony threw another wad of paper at his head.  “We’re supposed to be figuring this stuff out and all you’re doing is messing around.”

 

“I’m bored of it,” said Tony, sitting on a stool by his work bench in order to rest his foot.  Actually the more they worked on the bots, the more they drove him crazy, but in truth, he wanted to annoy Bruce enough so that he’d leave early and go to one of the places he volunteered at.

 

Unconsciously Tony patted the pads of his fingers against his lips, they were still tingling from the hour long make out session he’d had with Shadow, or Puck as he’d started calling him more in his head.  There’d been a lot of exploration, tasting, a little nibbling, and Puck had called time on events before they’d both gotten too drawn into it and before his brother was due to arrive. 

 

Now all Tony could think about was going back to his room and tasting his mouth again, but he couldn’t just swan off again.  Bruce had wondered what had taken him so long the previous day, as he’d thought Tony wouldn’t be long.  Tony had actually had to stop off at a bathroom on the way and wash his face so he didn’t look as flushed and his lips didn’t look as kiss-swollen.

 

“So, are you going to see your girlfriend tonight?” asked Tony, balling up another wad of paper. 

 

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” said Bruce, grimacing as the wad connected with the side of his head, knocking his glasses.

 

“Well you must be interested in someone,” said Tony, “or you wouldn’t keep swanning off to that trauma centre.”

 

“I’m not seeing anybody,” said Bruce.

 

“Ah, ah, ah,” said Tony, “that wasn’t what I said.  So who is she?  Is she pretty?  Some young, buxom nurse, some twenty five year old who flicks her hair and brings you cups of coffee just the way you like it with three spoons of sugar?  Or is she some homely lady in her mid forties, still pretty but soft around the edges?  Do you talk about work?  Have you gone for coffee?  Does she know you speak five languages if you are counting Klingon?”

 

“TONY!” said Bruce, glaring at him, “I am a medical professional and if I started seeing someone who worked at the trauma centre, it would be decidedly _un_ professional and…”

 

Bruce trailed off as he realised he’d just let far too much slip and his cheeks began turning red.

 

“I _knew_ it,” said Tony, “I knew you had to fancy someone.  So come on, you haven’t asked her out?”

 

Bruce lowered his face, trying to absorb himself in his work, “We haven’t even spoken,” he said quietly, “I just…  admire…  from afar.”

 

“Bruce Banner, I’m completely ashamed of you,” said Tony, “you’re a catch, dude!  You’re a doctor, you’re a genius, you do all this volunteer work because you’re such a softie pie, you half own Avengers Tower, you’re actually quite a handsome guy when you comb your hair and put an unrumpled shirt on, what are you afraid of?”

 

“Are these reasons I should ask someone out, or reasons you want to ask _me_ out?” said Bruce. 

 

“What is it?” said Tony, “What is it that’s stopping you?  Want me to get reservations at Masa?  I’ll book it for you, I’ll even put it on my credit card, hell I’ll _give_ you one of my credit cards, come on, Bruce.”

 

“Tony, just, just, _stay out_ of my love life _,_ ” said Bruce, glaring at him again and then taking off his glasses and laying them on the work bench.  “It’s got nothing to do with you.”

 

And with that, Bruce stormed out of the work shop, if he could have slammed the elevator doors, Tony was fairly sure that he would have. 

 

“Thank god,” said Tony, tossing his last wad of paper over his shoulder, “thought he’d never leave.”

 

Once Jarvis informed Tony that Bruce had left the building he hobbled to the elevator on his crutches and went to floor 47.  He knocked on Pucks door and grinned at him when he opened the door for him, allowing Tony to hobble inside where he plonked himself on the bed.

 

“Social call is it?” said Puck, and Tony was sure he could see him smirking.

 

“Just thought I’d be neighbourly,” said Tony, “see how the new staff was working out for ya, and all that.”

 

“Quite delightfully,” said Puck, “my brother was quite jealous, I must say.”

 

“As long as that’s all he was jealous about,” said Tony, tossing his crutches to one side and scooting back on the bed.

 

“Don’t be lewd, he’s 17,” said Puck, “and I think I told him about our little tryst, he’d have a stroke.”

 

“Because I’m a guy,” said Tony, quirking his eyebrow.

 

“Because _we’re old_ ,” said Puck with a smirk. 

 

“Charming fellow your brother,” said Tony.

 

“You have no idea,” said Puck.

 

Tony cocked his head to the side and gave him a cheeky grin, “You gonna come over here and kiss me, or what?”

 

“You sure I wouldn’t be taking advantage of someone in a fragile state?” he said. 

 

“Just get over here,” said Tony. 

 

Puck did. 

 

He climbed onto the bed, putting his knees either side of Tony’s legs so he was astride him, but kneeling up, not putting any of his weight down on Tony’s lap.  He took his face in his hands and bent his head, pressing their lips together.  Tony parted his lips eagerly, welcoming Puck’s tongue as it slid across the inside of his lip. 

 

The major problem he had was finding something to do with his hands, he wanted to cup Puck’s face, or wrap his arms around his neck, but the last time Tony’s hands had gone to close to his mask, Puck had admonished him, so he put his hands on his back instead, fisting the material of his hoodie between his fingers. 

 

They wrapped around each other, a certain amount of eagerness on both sides.  When Puck came up for air, Tony grinned up at him, “You know you’re not going to break me if you actually sit on my lap,” he said. 

 

“I just don’t want things to get too…  _enthusiastic_ ,” said Puck, “as it is, I have no idea what you’re trying to do back there with your hands, I’m not wearing a bra for you to unfasten, you know.”

 

Tony laughed, “I just wasn’t sure what to do with my hands,” he said honestly, “normally I’d be closer to the face region, but the hoodie kinda makes that difficult.”

 

Puck shook his head and then pressed his lips to Tony’s in a soft peck, “Don’t get excited, this is about as naked as you’re getting me.”

 

Tony wondered what he meant, but Puck put his fingers on the edge of his hoodie and pulled it up over his head, as his arms stretched upwards Tony saw he was wearing a t-shirt beneath and it rose up slightly, showing Tony a brief glimpse of a pale, toned, stomach before the t-shirt dropped again.  Tony looked up, this was the most he’d ever really seen of Puck, Bruce was right, the hoodie did hide how thin his frame was.

 

He was slender, the way his shoulders moved as he threw the hoodie to one side had a certain elegance.  Tony could finally see the cowl properly now, and Pucks sharp, green eyes, surrounded by blackout make up, it appeared.  Though his hair was hidden and tucked beneath, Tony could see a few stray wisps of black hair, which only added to his inner turmoil as now he desperately wanted to run his fingers through it.

 

Then he noticed the t-shirt, and he pressed a finger against it, and grinned up at Puck. 

 

“Good man,” he said. 

 

“What?” said Puck looking down.  “Oh, erm, yeah, I…  well it’s his, my brothers, one of his old ones…  I don’t…  I don’t really know who Han is, or why he shot first.”

 

“Seriously?” said Tony, “you really were a deprived child weren’t you?”

 

Puck shrugged, “Some little boys watch movies and play games, and some little boys learn capoeira and wu-shu.”

 

Tony shook his head with a smile, “Tomorrow, I am going to begin your movie-cation, but tonight, I have other plans.”

 

Their mouths connected again, and eventually their making out worked its way to them laying side by side and continuing kissing as it was a more comfortable position for both of them, but as Tony started grinding his hips against Puck a little, he called an end to it, as his brother would be arriving soon, and tossed Tony out of his room.   

 

The best part for Tony as he hobbled to the elevator was that Puck could no more wipe the grin from his face, than Tony could. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n This is dedicated to a very special person, (you know who you are) without whom this story would never have been continued. Your small act of kindness has gone a very long way.

 

** Chapter Nineteen **

****

Parker hadn’t stopped chuntering to himself all night long and it was beginning to make Loki’s eye twitch. 

 

“Will you _please_ tell me what it is that’s bothering you?” said Loki, peering over a rooftop which overlooked a busy street, keeping an eye out for people in distress, the police radio was turned on and tuned in, standing freely beside them. 

 

“I’m still not happy about Stark,” said Parker, folding his arms across his chest, “it just bothers me, ok?  I mean you get…  in trouble, and we’re both up the shitter, I mean there could be a tracker in that thing, there could be a microphone, you don’t know, you know as much about tech as I know about figure skating.”

 

Loki groaned, “I believe it was given in earnest,” he said, “but if it makes you feel more comfortable, I will leave it in the tower in future and go back to the broom handle.”

 

“I’m not comfortable with it now, _Puck_ ,” he said, and he’d been making a point of calling him that since he’d been given the metal staff, informing Loki not to address him by name either.

 

“I cannot believe that _I_ am saying this,” said Loki, “but _you_ are paranoid.”

 

“You’re not paranoid if they’re really out to get you,” said Parker.

 

“ _Ugh!_ ” said Loki, “Ok, that’s it, I just cannot cope with you while you’re in this mood.  If you were female, I would suggest that it was time for your reproductive cycle.  Take me back to the tower, I will put the damn thing away.”

 

“You’re calling it quits?” said Parker, “It’s only eleven forty five.”

 

“Yes, and it feels like we’ve been out here for hours,” said Loki, “if you’re not going to stop talking about trackers and microphones, take me back to the tower.”

 

“Alright, _fine_ , I will,” said Parker, “I am _so_ glad I have that school thing tomorrow night.”

 

“As am I,” said Loki, clipping the radio to the band of his trousers and reducing the staff to baton size and slipping it inside his hoodie pocket, “perhaps by the following evening you will have retained some sanity and we can have a regular nights patrol.”

 

“Whatever, dude,” said Parker, perching himself on the edge of the roof, “come on then.”

 

Loki shook his head with a sigh, and grasped onto Parker, and they swung across the streets.  If he was being honest with himself, his mind was in other places, namely the place he’d been a few hours before hand, on Stark’s couch, supposedly for his ‘movie-cation’ but that had been abandoned quickly for kissing and a little enthusiastic groping.

 

Loki had no idea what he was doing.  He should have been keeping his head down, staying away from Stark and Banner, getting through this _probation_ , finding a way to get the bracelet off.  He shouldn’t be sitting on Stark’s couch, brushing his tongue against his teeth, letting his hand wander down his side, fingertips brushing against the hint of a firm stomach beneath Stark’s vest.  All he was doing was asking for trouble.  Asking to get caught.  He shouldn’t be indulging in the mental fantasy of running his tongue around the shell of Stark’s ear. 

 

Perhaps it was simply because Stark was his enemy, the thrill of him not knowing just _who_ it was he was kissing.  That if Stark found out he would probably have a mental breakdown, which granted, would probably make escaping a lot easier.  The fact that Stark was an enthusiastic and talented kisser, only served to make the thrill of the indulgence better. 

 

It was because his mind was elsewhere, that he was thinking about how far he should push this, instead of the task at hand, namely keeping his eyes open and being attentive whilst they swung above the streets that it took him a few seconds to realise Parker was shouting at him.

 

“Oh shit, OH SHIT, SOMETHINGS-”

 

“WHAT-?” Loki had begun, but they were both cut off as something large and heavy slammed into them mid-swing over fifth avenue, cutting Parkers web and sending them both hurtling through the air towards the ground. 

 

Their contact broke, Parker spinning wildly in the air, trying to make a grab for Loki, but he was out of reach and Parker was hit again and went flying out of Loki’s view and Loki’s back suddenly made contact with the ground. 

 

He made a sound which was halfway between growl and groan, nowhere near to a full word as he’d fallen far and fallen hard and he was straining as hard as he could to draw a breath into his lungs. 

 

Around him people were now running and screaming, feet stomping past, car tires screeching, his eyes frantically searched for Parker, trying to see what it was that had hit them and if Parker was ok. 

 

He was desperately trying to draw breath and push himself up on his elbow at the same time, something fell apart at his waist, making a small clatter on the ground, the police radio was smashed. 

 

He managed to draw in a small amount of breath, but it was agony, he realised whatever hit them and the force of the fall had been enough to break a few of his ribs, they’d heal, but it was hurting.  Above him he saw a red and blue blur moving quickly, dodging, if he could have sighed with relief, he would have.  Parker was ok.  Parker wasn’t dead. 

 

But something, a huge black creature which made a metallic sound as it smashed between buildings, trying to grab onto to Parker was after him.  Loki was on the ground, he had to get up, he had to get high, there had to be a way of helping Parker, perhaps if he could just get to his feet he could distract the creature, incite it to come for him, giving Parker a chance to get away. 

 

Then heard a rumbling sound behind him, something huge heading in his direction, he would have turned his head to see if it was another metallic creature, but the more pressing concern was the taxi speeding directly for him, only feet away - oh, this was going to hurt. 

 

Loki brace himself and threw his arms over his face as he quickly lay back on the ground, he could take a car running directly over him, it’d hurt, a lot, but he’d survive it, then he could worry about the big metal creature and helping Parker, but something came flying past him and it took his eyes seconds to realise that the green blur was punching down on the bonnet of the car, it’s back end span out, but it stopped. 

 

Loki drew breath, the monster, the Hulk was glaring down at him, he recoiled, trying to get away and stand and managing neither.  Then the Hulk roared and he heard more swerving and crashing cars, above the screams and Hulk grabbed his arm, pulling him up to his feet. 

 

He flinched, holding his ribs as his feet touched the ground at last, waiting for the Hulk to send him crashing about. 

 

“Where Spider-man?” said the beast.

 

Loki opened his eyes, Hulk released his grip on his arm, Loki’s voice came out ragged and hoarse, “Something’s, ch-chasing him.”

 

He pointed a hand upwards to where Parker was flipping himself around across the side of a building, the black metal creature tearing up bricks as it gave chase.

 

Hulk growled and launched himself up into the air, aiming his green body at the metal creature and grabbing it, bringing it down to the ground where he began thrashing on it with his gigantic green fists. 

 

Loki pulled the baton from his pocket and twisted the ring so that the ends extended and he placed the end on the ground, leaning on it, suddenly Parker was by his side, grabbing his shoulders.

 

“Are you ok?  ARE YOU OK?”

 

Loki put his hand on the back of Parker’s neck, “I’m ok, I’m fine.  Are you ok?”

 

“You don’t sound fine, your breathing doesn’t sound right, you-”

 

“It’ll heal,” said Loki, interrupting him, “it’s already started, I can feel it, a few hours, I’ll be fine.  Are _you_ ok?”

 

“Bruised and sore, nothing’s broken,” he said. 

 

Loki pointed to where the Hulk was battling with the metal creature, though it wasn’t so much of a battle as a pummelling. 

 

“The beast may need calming,” he said, “go make some street blocks with your webbing, I’ll help get people off the street.”

 

They split, Parker flipping through the air to one end, spinning up an effective rope block with his webbing, to stop people from stumbling into the melee by accident.  Loki, helped people up who had fallen and been a little trampled, getting them up and encouraging them to get off the street, by the time he heard the sound of sirens, it was mostly over.

 

He really, _really_ didn’t want to get within pounding distance of the Hulk, but the beast appeared to be calming, the metal creature was down and he was simply occasionally hitting it with his fist to make sure it stayed that way. 

 

Loki turned his staff back into the baton and slipped it back inside his pocket and approached the Hulk, very, very slowly, hands held up, easing towards the towering green mass. 

 

“Is it dead?” he asked.

 

Hulk clonked it one more time for good measure and nodded. 

 

“Can you carry it back to the tower?” asked Loki “Stark will want to look at it.”

 

Hulk dragging it up into his hands and nodded again.  Parker swung back into view, dropping beside Loki, grabbing him around the shoulders, in a quick hug, then pulling back.

 

“I’ll swing you back to the tower, I’ll-”

 

“No,” said Loki, shaking his head, “you head back, tell Stark what’s happened, that everything’s ok, that there’s no need for SHIELD to be brought in.”

 

“But you’re hurt, you-”

 

Loki cut him off again, “I told you, I’ll heal, I’ll manage,” he said, “I’ll have to accompany the b- Hulk, so the general public don’t start fleeing for their lives.”

 

“Alright,” said Parker, “but I’m not happy about it.”

 

“I’ll be a lot happier once I know you’re safe at the tower,” said Loki, “go.”

 

Parker shot up a web and went. 

 

Loki pulled the baton back from his pocket, extending it out and leaning on it with relief, his ribs hurt, and healing himself took more energy than healing others, with others he could use magic, and he didn’t want to expend any on himself when there was a chance another one of those things could appear. 

 

“Follow behind me,” said Loki, and he began leading Hulk back to the tower, using his staff to help support his weight, having to stop every so often and try and regain his breath, with each step, the thunderous footsteps of the Hulk right behind him. 

 

Luckily the public crowds had thinned, sirens were everywhere, police were ushering people off the streets, and when the public at first saw them, there was the instinct to bolt, but once they saw that everything was fine and the beast wasn’t in fact on a rampage, things soon calmed. 

 

Loki was a little surprised that Hulk fit through the doors of the tower, though he suspected that Stark must have built them or at least modified them for this situation.  Parker was in the lobby waiting for them, Stark beside him on crutches, Stark’s face….  Loki did not like the expression on Stark’s face. 

 

“Jesus,” he said, coming forward to get a look at the creature. 

 

Loki instinctively straightened up and stopped leaning so much on the staff, reducing it in size and slipping it away in his pocket. 

 

“Hulk, buddy,” said Stark, “think you can take that thing in the service elevator and dump it in the workshop?  Spidey will go with you, won’t ya, kid?  Press the buttons for him?”

 

“Um, sure,” said Parker, scratching the back of his head, “but what…?”

 

“Oh, there’s like a utility closet in the workshop,” said Stark, “there’s a set of overalls that Bruce can put on when he gets back.  Look, don’t worry kid, when the change is, when it’s controlled, when he chooses it, he has control, you’ll be safe.”

 

“Ok,” said Parker, but before he could move off to the service elevator, Loki grabbed his arm.

 

“You’re staying here tonight,” he said, “the room next to mine is empty, stay in there.”

 

“What no, I-”

 

“You can call your aunt,” he said in a low voice, “you’re not going swinging through the streets on your own if there’s a chance there’s another one of these things about.  I doubt if there is, but, no, no arguments, you’re staying here.

 

“Alright, _Jesus_ ,” said Parker, “I got it.”  He skipped off towards the elevator, pressing the button, “Come on Jolly Green Giant, _mush_.”

 

“We’ll be down soon,” said Stark, “I gotta call SHIELD, let them know everything’s ok.  Wait for us down there.”

 

They waited until the service elevator had moved and Loki allowed his body to relax again, groaning, holding his ribs.

 

“You’re hurt,” said Stark, moving towards him.

 

“I’ll heal,” said Loki, “I’ll be fine.”

 

“Let me get you to medical,” said Stark.

 

“It’s just a couple of cracked ribs,” said Loki, “I’ll be fine, they’ll be alright by morning, it just hurts a little at the moment, I’ve had worse.”

 

“Please?” said Stark, “At least let me strap them for you.”

 

“Stark, you can barely stand yourself,” said Loki, “don’t you need to call SHIELD?”

 

“No, I was watching through city surveillance,” said Stark, “I told them as soon as I realised everything was clear.  Come on then, Puck.”

 

Stark hobbled to the regular lift, and Loki followed behind him, leaning against the wall, steadying his breathing as the lift moved upwards.  The doors opened and Loki frowned. 

 

“This isn’t the workshop,” he said, “this is the medical floor.”

 

“Look, I know how to wrap a bandage,” said Stark, hobbling over to one of the gurneys and retrieving a thick bandage from one of the supply drawers, “I’m not completely useless, will you just let me help you?”

 

Loki remembered Parker saying that to him, not all that long ago.  He walked over to the gurney and pressed the clips either side of his body to remove the body armour, wincing as he removed it and placed it to one side, feeling worse as the armour had been providing a certain amount of support.  He sat up on the gurney and then brought his palm to his forehead as he watched Stark hobble about, attempting to keep his crutches under his armpits and unwrap the packaging from the bandage at the same time.

 

“I tire of this,” said Loki, “sit beside me.”

 

“No it’s cool, I can totally do it, I’m a genius,” said Stark, sticking his tongue out in concentration.

 

Loki grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him closer and then hoisted him onto the gurney, wincing and hissing as the exertion on his ribs. 

 

“Now give me your foot,” said Loki.

 

“What?  No, I-”

 

“Give it to me, or I will knock you out,” said Loki.

 

Stark grumbled and raised his foot, wincing.  Loki undid the strapping, Stark hissed.  Loki ran his long fingers gingerly over the foot, it was swollen and he could tell where about the break was without even having to use magic. 

 

He closed his eyes, and concentrated, knitting the bones back together in his minds eye, they were particularly large and the breaks were clean, it used a chunk of his magic to repair the foot properly, but when he was done, Stark wiggled his toes. 

 

“Oh my god,” he said, “how did you do that?  That feels _so_ much better.” 

 

He flexed his foot back and forth in Loki’s hands still, Loki released him, and Stark grinned up at him. 

 

“Now why can’t you do that for yourself?” he asked. 

 

“I heal on my own,” said Loki, “it would be a waste, only have so much to go around.”

 

“Well thank you,” said Stark, still grinning and he leaned forward.

 

Loki slipped his hand around the back of Stark’s neck, pulling him closer, kissing him softly on the lips, then wincing and withdrawing as Stark’s hand had automatically gone to his side.

 

“Oh shit, sorry,” said Stark,

 

“It’s fine,” said Loki, “they’ll be fine in the morning.”

 

“Well, lift your hoodie up,” said Stark, jumping off the gurney and then flexing his bare foot on the floor.  “I’m still going to strap those ribs.”

 

Loki complied with a sigh, it hurt to raise his arms, but he pulled up the edge of his hoodie and undershirt and lifted them up, holding the material high so that Stark could access his rib cage. 

 

He heard Stark suck in a breath, his eyes were all over his torso, he could practically hear cogs turning and he saw Stark’s tongue dart across his lips, his pupils dilating. 

 

“Get that thought out of your head, Stark,” said Loki.

 

“What thought?” said Stark, pulling his best attempt to look completely innocent.

 

“You know exactly what thought,” said Loki, “they’re waiting for us downstairs.”

 

“Yeah,” said Stark, unravelling the bandage and beginning to strap Loki’s ribs, “but why d’you think I told them I had to call SHIELD?”

 

“Priorities, Stark, there’s a giant metal thing waiting for you in your workshop,” said Loki, “you get to take it apart and see how it works, now won’t that be fun?”

 

“Oh my god, I’m so hard right now.”


	20. Chapter 20

****

** Chapter Twenty **

 

Bruce rubbed his forehead, he wasn’t sure which way was up.  Spider-man was upside down, above him, or was he the right way up below him?  He sat up and groaned, he was on the floor of the workshop.  Spider-man was hanging from the ceiling; he was definitely the upside down one, swinging back and forth.  Bruce realised he had a pair of overalls laid on top of him, ready for him to put on. 

 

“Hey,” said Bruce.

 

“Hey, Doc,” said Spider-man, “you’ve been out for a while.”

 

“Yeah,” said Bruce, bunching the overalls in his hand and keeping them covering his crotch as he stood to his feet.  “I’m just gonna put these on.”  He shuffled backwards until he found the handle of the utility closet digging into his back. Bruce reached behind him with his hand, turning the handle and stepping inside, closing the door to the sound of Spider-man laughing.

 

He emerged fully dressed in the overalls albeit with bare feet, Spider-man was perched on top of the broken, giant black robot peering inside some of the broken casing. 

 

“So where’s Tony?” he asked, looking around.

 

Spider-man shrugged, “He said he had to call SHIELD, my brother went with him, they should be here soon.”

 

“Been keeping yourself entertained?” said Bruce, raising an eyebrow.  Really if they’d followed protocol, the kid should not have been left to his own devices in the workshop, though he doubted that the boy was the type to get up to mischief, or at least no more than any regular 17 year old boy.

 

“Just trying to work out whether it was complicated enough to act on its own, or if it was receiving orders from somewhere,” said Spider-man. 

 

“Do you know a lot about tech?” asked Bruce.

 

“I get by,” he said, “one day I should build a suit like Stark’s, I could be Iron Spidey, that would be _cool_.”

 

“Oh I’m sure your brother would just _love_ that,” said Bruce.

 

“Well I don’t think he’s going to be around forever,” said Spider-man.

 

“Hey!” said Bruce.  Shadow was probably at least ten years younger than him, “he’s not _that_ old.”

 

“Sure he is,” said Spidey, then he jumped off the robot, “so I have a question about Hulk.”

 

“Go on,” said Bruce.

 

“You can become him by choice, right?” he said, “but what makes it happen when it’s not by choice, is it just when you get all angry?”

 

Bruce sighed, “Sometimes I can dial it back, it’s like when it, gets out of control, or if my life is in immediate danger, or if I’m in a lot of pain.”

 

“So have you ever Hulked out over a really frustrating video game?” asked the boy. 

 

“No,” said Bruce, “I don’t really play that many video games.”

 

“Well what about when you’re constipated?” he said, “like have you ever been taking a really, really, _really_ painful shit and then all of a sudden been like….  HULK POO!”

 

“JARVIS!”  shouted Bruce, “Where’s Tony?”

 

“Heading down in the elevator now, sir,” said the computer, “Shadow is with him.”

 

Spider-man continued, “Have you ever been like walking around barefoot and then stubbed your toe and been like all HULK HAS OUCHIES?”

 

“Tell him to hurry,” said Bruce.

 

“What about paper cuts?  You ever Hulked out over a paper cut?  Those are like the worst kind of pain.”

 

“Goddammit, Tony, where are you?” said Bruce.

 

“What about other stuff that raises your heart rate?” the kid asked, “oh my god, can you have sex?  OH MY GOD, CAN YOU EVEN MASTURBATE?”

 

“TONY!”

 

The elevator doors opened, Tony and Shadow stepped out.

 

“Oh thank god,” said Bruce.  “Wait,” he looked at Tony’s leg, “why aren’t you limping?  What happened to your foot?”

 

“Puck fixed me up,” said Tony, “anyway, SHIELD’s called off, we’re all good.”

 

“What do you mean, _Puck fixed you up_?” asked Bruce, eyeing him now suspiciously. 

 

“I can heal others a little,” said Shadow, “not a lot, not very major injuries, I don’t have access to it, but a couple of broken bones from a foot that are already healing?  I sorted that.”

 

“What out of the kindness of your heart?” said Bruce, “because up until now you’ve not exactly been Mr Social Sunshine.”

 

“In return for the gift,” said Shadow, “the staff, I felt I owed something in return and a little healing seemed appropriate.” 

 

“Oh yeah?” said Bruce, now very suspicious about this thing that Shadow could do that he was only just hearing about.  “Then why didn’t you fix your brother’s leg when he was hurt?” 

 

He pointed to Spider-man’s leg, the spot where the costume had torn had been repaired, but it was easy to tell there had once been a hole in it. 

 

“I did,” said Shadow, “I healed it as much as I could.”

 

Bruce tilted his head, “But it was really torn up, I don’t…”  Then he remembered, “Jesus Christ, so it _was_ a compound fracture?” 

 

Spider-man shuddered, “Yeah it hurt,” he said, “like a lot, but that stuff takes a lot out of him, so because of the situation, he just fixed the bone.”

 

“Well I,” he breathed out, “geez, I’m sorry,” he shook his head, “left over Hulk grumpiness, I apologise, truly.”

 

“Chill out, Doc,” said Spider-man, giving him a slap on the back, “I’d be grumpy too if I broke my toilet every time I had to take a massive shit.”

 

“What the _hell_ have you two been talking about?” said Tony. 

 

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Bruce, “I didn’t say that, I would _never_ say that.”

 

“I’m yanking yer chain, Doc,” said Spider-man.

 

“You see,” said Shadow, “this is what _I_ have to deal with, every day.”

 

They got down to work, but Shadow and Spider-man weren’t much help when it came to the tech stuff, so Tony told them to hit the sack and they’d talk in the morning, but once it got to three am, all they’d managed to find out about the new robot was that it probably came from the same place as the others.  And since Hulk had damaged the casing far too much, and a lot of the circuitry, they weren’t able to find anything more useful, so he and Tony parted ways for the night.   Both going to their respective beds to think out the problem, and get some much needed sleep.

 

X-X-X

 

When Bruce woke up the next morning there was a blinking light on his data pad and he knew that someone was waiting to talk to him.  He groaned and rubbed some of the sleep from his eyes, hair a dishevelled mess, he threw on a shirt which had been crumpled on the floor and hit the receive call button. 

 

“Good Morning, Doctor Banner, sleep well?”

 

The words were friendly, but the tone was fuming.  Nick Fury looked at him with his single eye, brow furrowed; Bruce knew he was in trouble. 

 

“I slept fine, Director Fury,” said Bruce, “what can I do you for?” 

 

Well, fuck it, he was already in trouble.

 

“You wanna explain to me why SHIELD got a bill this morning from the City of New York to cover your property damage?” said Fury.

 

“Because they lost my address?” said Bruce, shrugging his shoulders.

 

“Oh you can jest, Banner,” said Fury, “but this is some serious shit you did last night.  Stark told me everything was fine, nothing to worry about, but you Hulked out in the middle of the street, tore up a road and then crashed into several pieces of city property before you even _got_ to where the attack was occurring.  You wanna tell me why?”

 

“I wanted to get there faster,” said Bruce, “lives needed to be saved, I wasn’t thinking about lampposts and parking meters at the time.”

 

“Well you’re going to be paying for those posts and parking meters in paperwork,” said Fury. 

 

Bruce groaned. 

 

The data pad started flashing a green light on the side, so he knew he was being sent all sorts of information. 

 

“To start with, I was, shall we say, suspicious, of Stark’s report on the two guys you’re supposed to be assessing,” he said, “it made them sound like they were two little boy scouts, and I’ve seen the tapes, so I want a fresh report on the first month, on my desk by Friday.”

 

“You want, Hulk to drop it off on the Hellicarrier?” said Bruce. 

 

“Don’t get cute with me, Banner,” said Fury, “next, I want you to make arrangements for a practical skills assessment, because Stark was reluctant to do it.”

 

Bruce groaned again, “Yeah, with good reason,” he said, “look these guys, it’s just a guy looking out for his kid brother, they don’t want to be part of this global world saving stuff, they spend most nights chasing muggers and car thieves.”

 

“I’m sure they can be persuaded,” said Fury.

 

“No,” said Bruce, “you don’t understand, Fury, the older one wants to get the kid to quit, he doesn’t want to encourage him to put himself in more danger.”

 

“No arguments on this, Banner,” said Fury, “you need to make it happen, I don’t care how, just make it happen.”

 

Bruce groaned once more. 

 

“And one more thing to add to your ‘to do’ list,” said Fury, “starting Monday, you can forget all your other volunteer gigs, because I got a new one for you.”

 

“What?” said Bruce, “You can’t do that.”

 

“Oh, can’t I?” said Fury, “Watch me.  Make your apology’s and wrap up anything you gotta finish at the places now, starting Monday, you’ll be paying the city back by volunteering for the graveyard shift at the ECHO centre in the Bronx.”

 

“But-”

 

“No, buts,” said Fury, “they need good doctors and you’re a good doctor, so your ass is theirs, 6 hours a night, seven nights a week for the next six months.”

 

“Fury, I cannot just drop what I’m doing,” said Bruce, “I’ve been working a lot with the trauma centre and I-”

 

“Drop it, Banner,” said Fury, “you wanna help soldiers with PTSD?  You can do it in six months, and don’t forget, I want that report by Friday.”

 

The screen went blank and Bruce threw the data pad at wall.  “Goddammit…” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yep, Fury is mean.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: From this point on smut will be a lot more present in the story. Not that the plot is taking a back seat, but the smut will be joining it, hopefully steaming up the windows.)
> 
> Thank you so, so much to everyone who has left a comment or kudos, the response has been overwhelming and it's filled me with happiness. Thank you to all those who remember it from FF, I'm glad I'm able to finally continue it for you. At the bottom please find some of the artwork my friend made for it, hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as the story. You can find more on my tumblr, it's BiFrostedFlakeArt, which also has some of my own artwork on.

 

 

** Chapter Twenty-one  **

 

Tony was having a real dilemma, on the one hand, he really wanted to help Bruce with the robot, because he looked stressed and he’d cancelled his regular appointment to work at the clinic.  On the other hand, he _really_ wanted to go see Puck, as it was getting to that time when Bruce would normally be leaving, and Tony would have a sweet few hours in which he could go see Puck, before he’d ultimately have to get ready to go out on the streets and patrol. 

 

He knew the kid had left early that morning, and he knew that Puck was probably nervous about him heading back to the tower alone in case another robot was out there gunning for him.  And it wasn’t like Spider-man could just jump in a taxi, but the kid had promised to take the back streets on his way back home, so Tony figured if he could think of a decent excuse, he might get four hours with Puck before he had to go. 

 

“Bruce, I’m so beat on this,” said Tony, rubbing the back of his neck, “I know it’s important, dude, but we’re getting about as far with this, as we were with the other bots.  I think I’m just too close to this stuff, it’s all starting to look like white noise, I think we need a break.”

 

Bruce sighed and set his tools to one side, “Yeah, I kinda agree,” he said, “we’re getting nowhere fast.”

 

Bruce just looked so defeated, like he’d been fighting a major battle and lost.

 

“Hey,” said Tony, feeling a knot of guilt in the pit of his stomach, “how about we just have a bros night, huh?  We’ll drink some beer, we’ll watch some movies, just me and you.  What do you say?”

 

Bruce sighed and ran his hand through his hair, “Actually, if we’re calling it quits, I kinda wanna head to the trauma centre.”

 

“Oh, to see your _girlfriend_ ,” said Tony, with a smirk.

 

“To wrap up some paperwork,” said Bruce, “as of next week I have to start working at the ECHO centre, so I er, won’t have the time to go down there any more, and there’s some stuff I have to finish.”

 

“But why?” said Tony, “I thought you liked it there, it was a change of pace for you.”

 

“Time for a change,” said Bruce, smiling sadly, “there wasn’t that much I could do there anyway.”

 

“Bruce…”

 

“I’ll see you later,” said Bruce, and he walked away, heading to the elevator and walking inside. 

 

Tony sighed to himself once the doors closed, “Bruce, you martyr.” 

 

Tony waited until Bruce had left the building, and then headed straight for floor 47, and knocked on Puck’s door, leaning as casually as he could against the door frame. 

 

Puck opened the door, and Tony grinned, “Housekeeping,” he said.

 

“I’m glad you’re here,” said Puck, turning his back on Tony and walking inside the room, Tony followed close behind.  “I wanted to discuss something with you.”

 

“Oh?” said Tony, quirking his eyebrow, “is it about how incredibly attractive you find me?”

 

Puck laughed and turned to face Tony, pulling his hoodie off over his head, so he was standing in his t-shirt, a rather care-worn one, a cool leather bracer around his right wrist, and his cowl which of course stopped Tony from being able to see anything above the end of his nose and even covering his hair. 

 

“If this is going to continue, there has to be some rules,” said Puck.

 

“Rule are made to be broken,” said Tony.

 

“Not these rules,” said Puck.

 

“Spoil sport,” he said, “Can the safe word be Oklahoma?”

 

“Rule number 1,” said Puck, “you never try to take off my mask, ever, no matter the circumstances.”

 

“I can live with that,” said Tony. 

 

“Rule number 2,” he said, “my brother never finds out about this, ever.”

 

“I wasn’t planning on telling him, but go on.”

 

“Rule number 3,” said Puck, taking a step towards Tony, “at the end of this probation, this ends.”

 

“What?” said Tony, “Not to sound like a clingy teenage girl, but why?”

 

“Once I’m out of this tower, I am in the wind,” said Puck, “two months, take it or leave it.”

 

“I’ll take it,” said Tony, then he gave him a sly grin, “hopefully you’ll be taking some of it too.”

 

“Rule number 4-”

 

“How many rules are there going to be?”

 

“As many as I say there are,” said Puck, “Rule number 4, when we’re in bed together you don’t address me by name.”

 

“So we’re getting in bed together?” said Tony.

 

“Yes, if you’ll stop interrupting me, and let me finish,” said Puck.

 

“I apologise, please do continue.”

 

“Rule number 5,” said Puck, taking another step towards Tony, “no feelings.  Since I got here, my brother has always and will always be my number one concern, he comes first in everything, there can be no attachments; this is simply _sex_.”

 

“Hot, sweaty, naked sex though, right?”

 

“As naked as I feel like becoming,” said Puck, cocking his head.

 

“Works for me,” said Tony, “can I add a rule 6?”

 

“I’ll entertain the idea,” said Puck. 

 

“Well it’s more of an amendment to rule 2,” said Tony, “if anyone finds out about this, Bruce, SHIELD, anyone, I’ll be in so much shit.  I’m supposed to be making sure that you’re just a normal guy and not trying to take over the Earth, so generally sleeping with you would be considered a no-no.”

 

“Just between us,” said Puck, “no one else will know.”

 

“Ok,” said Tony, “can I sex you up now?”

 

They clashed together, dragging each other down to the bed, kissing madly.  There was much rolling, a fight for dominance, which was eventually settled by laying side by side. 

 

Tony’s hands were desperate to touch skin, his fingers found the edge of Pucks t-shirt and slipped beneath, moving over taut muscles and defined edges.  He found Pucks hand had moved to his stomach and a set of long fingers were now dancing over his abs, caressing his six pack. 

 

Puck’s mouth broke away and he began kissing down Tony’s neck, laying hot, sucking kisses across his skin, Tony moaned, putting his hand on Puck’s ass and pulling him forward so their groins pressed together. 

 

Hips began to grind, Tony wasn’t sure who was the first, but they were both soon grinding into each other.  Puck’s tongue was bathing over his collar bone, and Tony could feel himself stiffen instantly, his pants becoming tight. 

 

But there simply wasn’t enough leverage from this angle, and just as Tony was about to begin rolling them again, Puck pulled him and Tony was soon laying on top.  He was concerned about putting his entire weight on Puck, but it didn’t seem to bother the man beneath him at all, because he’d pulled Tony’s lips back to his own, tongues now exploring each others mouths. 

 

Tony could feel that Puck was hard beneath him; he slid his hand down Puck’s body and began undoing the button and zip of Puck’s pants, barely noticed until he felt fingers curl around his throbbing cock, that Puck had begun to do the same. 

 

Tony pushed himself up, shuffling his pants down to his thighs, and giving Puck’s a small yank down too, taking a few moments to admire the long, hard dick, Tony smirked, raising his eyes to Puck.

 

“You shaved?” he said.

 

“Do you want to spend all night admiring my handy work, or do you want to feel my fingers around you?”

 

“Fingers please,” said Tony, smirking.  He pushed Puck’s t-shirt up, just to expose his stomach and bent his head to run his tongue over it, like he had been thinking about doing since he first saw it.

 

Tony groaned as he lay back on top, their cocks now rubbing together and creating a magnificent feeling of friction, he kissed the exposed skin of Puck’s neck, twitching with delight as he drew a moan from the man’s lips. 

 

Two months.  That was it.  He couldn’t afford to waste time, whispering sweet nothings and wondering if he was going to fuck everything up, they had a ticking clock, every second that past spelled another second closer to the end.  If he was going to get what he wanted out of their affair, then he needed to speak up.

 

Tony ground his hips again, taking Puck’s mouth, running his tongue around the inside of his lips, “I want you to cum in my mouth.”

 

“Mmmm?” said Puck, his hand squeezing between their bodies and wrapping themselves around both their cocks, pressing them together, “and where will you be cumming.”

 

“In yours.”

 

“Best change positions then,” said Puck. 

 

This was incredibly freeing.  To have a lover who wanted nothing more than sex, a lover he didn’t have to love.  Who didn’t balk at the first sign of dirty talk, they had two months, no point in waiting to get eight weeks down the line to discover what each other liked, they were pressed for time, testing waters was out, diving in head first was in.  And if Tony did something, if he fucked up, it wouldn’t matter, because Puck would be gone soon.  Tony knew he would probably fuck it up at some point, but this wasn’t going to be the greatest love he’d ever known, Puck wasn’t Pepper, he was going to enjoy two months of hazy, guilt free, hedonistic sex.

 

Tony sprang up and turned himself around, settling with his mouth hovering inches above Puck’s cock, he ran his fingers around the groin, not even a trace that there had been any hair there at all, it was smooth.  He’d been so busy admiring that he’d forgotten about his own, and suddenly he was engulfed by a warm, wet mouth.  Tony moaned and shuddered. 

 

He couldn’t get lost in the moment, he had a job to do.  He licked the head of Puck’s cock, swirling his tongue around it, then he moaned again as he felt fingers press into his butt cheeks, squeezing him, pulling him down and Puck began sucking him in a way Tony had never thought possible.  He wrapped his lips around the long, delicious cock in front of his own eyes, and began moving his mouth, up and down, sucking and tracing his tongue down the veins. 

 

Then it became like a competition between them, because Tony was having to come up for air after a minute, resting the slight ache in his jaw by lapping at the tip, but Puck kept him swallowed for longer, swallowing him deeper and Tony wasn’t about to be shown up by some English-boy in the bedroom department, so while his brain tried desperately to think of tax returns and paperwork, his mouth was working Puck’s cock for all it was worth, sucking and licking, and with each breath of air he tried to keep himself down for longer, never managing to hold out as long. 

 

“How are you doing that?” Tony gasped, coming up for air again, his balls aching, his cock pulsing; a rush of heat was starting to bubble up from his toes.  Lapping dribbles of weeping pre-cum from Puck’s cock, just to give his jaw another break. 

 

“Don’t know what you mean,” said Puck, and then he swallowed Tony again, this time to the hilt, managing it easily and Tony knew that he was going to cum before long. 

 

He swallowed Puck again and this time moving his head rapidly up and down, sucking on the downwards movements and humming on the upwards motions, he decided to add a bit of cheating and began to massage Puck’s balls too, playing with them between his fingers, and then he heard Puck moan loudly, muffled by the sound of Tony’s own cock, and the member in his mouth thrust upwards, hitting the back of his gullet, causing him to make a choking sound as hot cum began spilling down his throat. 

 

Tony swallowed it, pulling his mouth off the end and lapping at the end as more dribbles of cum came out, making sure he didn’t miss a drop.  He knew he was getting closer, Puck’s mouth was hot and he began working Tony again.  He was just about to smirk and throw back a comment when a slick finger pushed itself into his ass.  Tony swore loudly, pushing his hips down on reflex and cumming so hard that it wasn’t until the black spots cleared from his eyes he wondered if he’d accidentally choked Puck. 

 

The mouth was withdrawn though and Tony felt a little lapping until both he and Puck had grown soft and he rolled off, laying on his back, staring at the ceiling, trying to encourage the feeling back into his legs. 

 

Puck chuckled, and Tony propped himself up on his elbows, grinning at Puck. 

 

“What’s got you so amused?” he asked. 

 

“Nothing,” said Puck, propping himself up now to look at Tony, “just if you get that competitive over blow jobs, I am really looking forward to seeing how competitive you get over sex.” 

 

Tony laughed, giving Puck a little kick in the shoulder, “I wasn’t competitive.”

 

“You’re only saying that because you lost,” said Puck, his face in a grin.

 

“You came first,” said Tony.

 

“Only because I felt sorry for you,” said Puck, “and if I hadn’t we’d have probably been here all night.”

 

“Cheeky bastard,” said Tony.

 

They both sat up properly, then shifted onto their knees, coming together in a deep kiss, which eventually led to them falling back to their side by side position, kissing without rush since they’d both cum now and there was no more need for things to be overheated. 

 

Tony groaned and pulled away, checking his watch, “I should probably go,” he said, “your brother will be here soon.”

 

“You can leave if you wish,” said Puck, “but he has an event at school, we’re not going out on patrol tonight.”

 

Tony quirked his eyebrow, “So, there could be a round two?”

 

“I don’t know,” said Puck, his hand now covering Tony’s crotch, cupping, rubbing, teasing him, “could there be?”

 

Tony chuckled, “Keep doing that, we’ll see,” and he kissed Puck again, and after a little more groping and rubbing and teasing, there was indeed a round two, and Tony lost for definite that time.

 

 x-x-x

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

****

** Chapter Twenty-Two **

 

Loki woke up earlier than he normally would, stretching out his limbs, a smile of satisfaction across his lips.  He rolled out of bed and dragged himself to the bathroom in order to strip off and wash away the grime of the previous day.  He’d spent a few hours rolling around with Stark on the bed, before kicking him out and cleaning himself up in order to wait for Parker for their nightly patrol.  He had promised he’d forgo the metal staff, which Parker was still paranoid about, and taken out the wooden broom handle instead. Sadly, it hadn’t survived the evening after Loki had been forced to break it over the back of a madman who’d been waving a gun about in the street.

 

Parker had told him that he’d had a little chance to search the workshop when he’d accompanied the beast, but while he was sure that Stark did have _something_ that could possibly get the rune bracelet off, he’d need more time and more access to the tools there.  He’d even tried annoying Banner out of the room once he’d woken to buy himself more time.  Loki had assured him they’d have another chance.

 

So far this new arrangement with Stark was turning out to be enjoyable, Stark was full of suggestions and was fairly creative, if somewhat competitive as a lover.  Though Loki wasn’t sure if that label was specifically correct.  _What name did you give a person with whom you were sexually active, but had no intention of having a long term relationship with?_   He was sure one probably existed, but he had no idea what it might be. 

 

As long as Parker never found out, he didn’t care, Parker had put his neck on the line for him, again, by actively associating and tying himself to Loki.  Spending nights rolling around semi-naked with the enemy hadn’t exactly been part of the plan. 

 

Still, at least Stark had so far stuck to his rule about not addressing him by name, although they were only two nights into their official ‘affair’ Loki, as much as he didn’t want Stark knowing who he really was, also didn’t want to hear the name ‘Puck’ moaned into his ear.  And, if Stark ever asked, he could come up with a decent enough excuse to give him.  He hoped.

 

Loki piled his clothes and his masks on top of the toilet seat and stepped into the shower, turning the knob so that he was covered in a glorious spray of hot water.  He never closed the bathroom door when he took a shower, for some reason he didn’t understand it made him unbearably hot and he’d always end up having to bolt so he didn’t overheat, so now he left it ajar and the temperature was even. 

 

He washed his hair and his body, getting rid of all the sweat and grime, and a little left over dried cum from his stomach, as Stark had been sitting in his lap the previous night, doing his level best to hold out longer than Loki as they’d rubbed each others cocks, but Loki had been the victor, and Stark had pouted and vowed a rematch would be on the cards. 

 

Loki closed his eyes as he let the hot water run over his shoulder blades, his mind drifting directly to Stark, his defined stomach, his thick cock, the noise he’d made, halfway between a moan and growl when Loki’s fingers had worked his nipples.  Loki realised that he was hard and had to quickly sort himself out, before finishing up his shower and then dressing back up in his full costume. 

 

x-x-x

 

Loki decided to finally avail himself of the facilities and have a look at the gym, taking the metal staff with him since the wooden one was now lying broken on a street corner somewhere. 

 

However, he found himself standing in the doorway, venturing no further, head tilted, watching Banner and Stark engaged in some kind of furious melee in the middle of the gym floor.  Fighting each other with what appeared to be brightly coloured practise swords, though Loki had no idea why, since neither of them utilised such a weapon in battle, and both of them had terrible form and footwork.

 

“You have learned _much_ , young one,” said Stark, moving his practise sword over Banner’s head.

 

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises,” said Banner, turning and blocking an attempted blow. 

 

They were hitting their swords back and forth far more than they should have been, as in a real duel that tended to dull the blade.

 

“Your destiny lies with _me,_ young Skywalker, Obi Wan knew this to be -” his eyes suddenly spotted Loki standing in the doorway and he put the practise sword behind his back in an attempt to hide it, albeit poorly, “- Oh hi, Puck, didn’t see ya there.”

 

Now Banner looked flustered and red cheeked, and also made the attempt to hide his practise sword. 

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be working on figuring out where that metal creature came from?” said Loki.

 

“Yes, yes,” said Stark, nodding his head, “he’s absolutely right, Bruce, shame on you for suggesting this.”

 

“ _Me?_ ”

 

“Come along now,” said Stark, grabbing Banner by the shoulder and dragging him towards the doors, “you’ve had enough fun and games, back to work with you.”

 

“Tony, I am going to kill you-”

 

Loki stepped aside as Stark pushed Banner out of the gym and towards the elevators.

 

“Oh, er, feel free to use whatever you want,” said Stark over his shoulder, “Steve said he’d be popping by later, you haven’t met him yet, he’s got that uber serious thing going on too, you’ll get on like a house on… well, not fire, a sensible temperature probably, see ya!” 

 

And with that Stark bundled Banner into the elevator.

 

Loki shook his head and walked into the gym area, the men had abandoned their practise swords, so Loki picked them up and hung them on a rack with some wooden ones which seemed to be far more sensible options to him, and he had no idea why they’d be using these flimsy red and green ones. 

 

There was a lot of equipment in the gym, most of which he had no idea how to use, but in the corner, he found a wooden practise dummy with multiple arms that could be used to practise with his staff.  So he decided to use that for a while. 

 

He had barely noticed how long he’d been practising; becoming quite drawn into his work, though he could have been there for hours when he heard the gym door swing open and he turned and saw the soldier.  He was dressed in simple clothes instead of the uniform he had worn during the invasion, and he smiled at Loki, advancing with a hand extended. 

 

“You must be the infamous Shadow,” said the solider, “Steve, Steve Rogers.”

 

He reached Loki and he cautiously took the extended hand and shook it, “Shadow,” he said. 

 

“Do you prefer Shadow or Puck?” asked Rogers.

 

Loki grimaced, “That name was not given to them in earnest.”

 

“So Shadow it is then,” said Rogers, and he dumped a bag on the floor and pulled out a roll of tape which he began wrapping around his hands.  “Don’t suppose you’d be up for a sparring match?  I hear you’re strong and since Thor isn’t here at the moment, I don’t have anyone who’s been able to fight me just one on one, no suits, no giant green monster.”

 

 _Why did he have to mention Thor?_   Just the mention of his brother’s name had put Loki edge, he was sure by now that Heimdall could not see him, but why wasn’t his brother looking for him on Midgard yet?  That question had been plaguing him for weeks now. 

 

He pushed Thor from his mind, no, he did not want to get into a fight with Rogers, it would simply be another exercise in pulling his punches, he knew Rogers was strong for a human, but he didn’t have half of Parker’s strength, and Parker was really his only equal in that department. 

 

“I’m afraid I was just finishing up,” said Loki.

 

“Perhaps another time then,” said Rogers.

 

Loki nodded his head, and got out of the gym as quickly as he could and went directly to his room where he intended to wait for Stark or Parker, whoever showed up first, as he had no doubt one of them would. 

 

He settled on his bed to continue reading the book he’d started, between his new found physical attraction, and his nightly patrols he hadn’t managed to get very far, but in the story the puzzling harpooner had just given the main character a gift of a shrunken head and he wanted to find out more. 

 

By the time he heard the knock on his door, both characters were now firm friends and aboard their ship, but they had yet to meet the Captain who seemed to be hiding from the crew.  He placed a slip of paper inside the pages and walked to the door to let Stark inside. 

 

“I was a bit embarrassed this afternoon,” said Stark, as he entered and immediately went to sit on the bed, “you totally caught me and Bruce being nerds.”

 

“Your form was terrible,” said Loki, sitting beside him on the bed, “I have never such bad footwork in my life.”

 

“Well we can’t all be Dahar masters,” said Stark.

 

“What is a Dahar master?” asked Loki.

 

“Nothing,” said Stark, shaking his head with a laugh, “more nerd stuff.”

 

Loki removed his hoodie, and no sooner had he tossed it to the floor, he felt Stark’s arm wrap around his waist and they began kissing, slowly at first, exploratory, but it soon grew to faster, more desperate kisses and soon there was a struggle between them, lips locked but each trying to push the other to the bed. 

 

“This is ridiculous,” said Loki, pulling back from the kiss, “if you don’t stop fighting me, we won’t have time to do anything before my brother arrives.”

 

“You’re keen,” said Stark, smirking.

 

“Well I was planning on fucking you tonight,” said Loki, “and I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

 

“Funnily enough,” said Stark, “I’ve been having the same thoughts.”

 

“There is only one way to settle this,” said Loki, fishing in the zip pocket of his trousers for a coin, and laying it on the top of his thumb, “choose a side heads or tails.”

 

“I thought that was what we arguing over already,” said Stark with a lusty grin on his face.

 

“ _Stark…_ ”

 

“Alright,” he said, “heads.”

 

Loki flipped the coin, looked at it and then smirked at Stark, “Tails, you lose.”

 

“Hang on a minute,” said Stark, making a grab for the coin, “that’s a _subway token_.”

 

But Loki captured his lips and pushed him back onto the bed, and Stark made a perfunctory struggle, just to show he wasn’t totally giving in, before wrapping his arms around Loki’s neck and kissing him back.

 

After a few minutes of kissing and grinding, Loki could feel that they were both hard, even through the fabric of their clothing so he pulled back and stood up and went to get something from the drawer beside his bed. 

 

“Trousers off,” he told Stark.

 

Stark jumped up off the bed and pulled his vest off over his head and stripped his trousers off, he’d forgone underwear and he lay back on the bed, legs spread, his cock laying flat against his stomach, one hand behind his head, grinning up at Loki.

 

“You’re not going to fuck me with all those clothes on are you?” he asked, “at least take your socks off.”

 

Loki chuckled and retrieved the bottle of lubrication that he’d ‘liberated’ from the medical floor.  He looked at Stark, the arc reactor in the centre of his chest was strange, but eerily beautiful.  It had been something which had fascinated him since he had failed to bring Stark into his fold and he was actually excited that he was now in a position where he could touch it and look at it from up close.  The rest of Stark’s torso was equally pleasing to look at, his stomach was hard and defined, his arms were pleasing to the eye and his cock was perfect in both length and width and while Loki planned on sinking himself into Stark, he was looking forward to feeling Stark inside him also.

 

Loki pulled his t-shirt off over his head, enjoying the look of desire he was getting from Stark, his pupils were dilated so wide they looked black, his lips were parted and his pink tongue flicked out to moisten them. 

 

He couldn’t removed the bracer, as it would expose the rune bracelet on his wrist, but he undid his own trousers, and dropped them to the floor, if Stark could live with the cowl, he could live with the bracer too. 

 

There was a heated look between them and Loki was back on the bed, covering Stark’s body with his own, mouths connected, at last their chests and groins pressing together without any clothing to block the sensation. 

 

Stark wasn’t shy about making it clear what he wanted, he hands were roaming up and down Loki’s back, making grabs at his buttocks, and grinding his hips upwards.  Loki broke away and began kissing down Stark’s neck, over his collarbone, he circled his finger around the arc reactor which made Stark shudder, then he took a pink nipple into his mouth and sucked on it, causing it to instantly grow hard and this seemed to earn him moans from its owner. 

 

Loki grabbed the lube and poured a helping into his palm, he rubbed a little over Stark’s cock, then over his own, and then placed the tip of his index finger at Stark’s rim. 

 

“Spread your legs for me, Stark,” he said, which made Stark grin lustfully as he complied. 

 

He pushed it to the first knuckle, Stark hissed and winced, for all his bravado, Loki was fairly sure he had not done this with another man before; but Stark was a big boy and he certainly wasn’t shy, so if he wanted things to stop, he would have to say so.  Loki pushed the finger fully inside, it was tight, but after a few seconds Stark was nodding and babbling words of encouragement. 

 

He slid the finger back and forth until it was moving easily, and then dripped a little more lube onto his hand and pushed the second one inside. 

 

“MOTHERFU-” Stark shouted, Loki was about to withdraw his fingers, as this really wouldn’t be worth it is Stark was going to moan and whine the entire time, but Stark looked at him and grinned, “fuck, that feels good.”

 

Loki smiled, encouraged, he pushed and pulled the fingers, when things were getting a little looser, he pulled them apart inside Stark, which caused the man to moan, and Loki pushed a third finger inside. 

 

Stark was moaning loudly, writhing to Loki’s touch as he stretched him more. 

 

“I think you’re going to need a fourth,” said Loki.

 

“Fuck the forth,” said Stark, “I’m as ready as I’m going to be, so just fuck me already.”

 

“You say such sweet things,” said Loki with a little smile.

 

He kept moving his fingers as he switched to his knees, and then pulled them out in order to take hold of his cock.  Stark tilted his arse upwards, and Loki smiled at this act, and placed the head of his stiff dick at the entrance. 

 

“This might sting,” said Loki.

 

“I’m a big boy,” said Stark, “I can take it.”

 

Loki pushed himself inside, burying himself to the hilt and Stark threw back his head, his mouth open, looking unable to form words, for a change. 

 

He moved again so he was covering Stark’s body with his own, looking down at him, “You ready?”

 

Stark nodded silently, and Loki drew back his hips and then pushed himself forward again. Stark moaned and as soon he’d wrapped his legs around Loki’s waist, he began pumping himself back and forth, going slowly at first and then picking up speed, establishing a steady rhythm.

 

At first Stark was silent, then he began making little breathy noises, which soon worked their way up to full on moans.  They’d kiss for a little while, and though Loki had no trouble holding his breath, he knew Stark did, but his competitiveness would make him try to hold out longer than he was really able, so Loki had to concentrate and remind himself to pull back every so often.

 

Stark’s lips were kiss-swollen, beads of sweat forming over his skin, Loki had to keep reminding himself to not get too lost in the feeling, at how tight and perfect it felt to be inside Stark, it would be too easy to lose control, and in the hazy delight of sex, accidentally break him in half. 

 

Loki could feel a wetness on his stomach and he lifted himself, supporting his weight on his hands he looked down and Stark’s cock was weeping pre-cum over both their stomachs, he snaked one hand down, easily keeping his balance on one hand and began stroking Stark’s throbbing member.

 

Stark moaned, licking his lips, “Fuck, that feels so good,” he said. 

 

“You should feel what it’s like inside you, Stark,” said Loki, moving his hips a little faster now that Stark was used to the feeling. 

 

“No,” he said, “not Stark, not while we’re in bed.”

 

“I apologise,” said Loki, brushing his thumb over the tip of Stark’s cock, collecting a dribble of pre-cum onto his fingers and using it with the lube already on to help stroke Stark closer to his orgasm.  Of course he’d already established the ‘no name’ rule, Stark was probably just using tit for tat.

 

“Tony,” he said.

 

“What?” said Loki, as Starks hips were now thrusting with his own, building the momentum.

 

“When we’re in bed,” said Stark, “call me Tony.”

 

“Whatever you want,” he said, “ _Tony_.”

 

Stark moaned loudly and Loki felt the muscles in Stark’s arse contract around him, cum now spilling hot and fast over his hand and Stark’s own stomach.  He waited until it subsided before letting go and grabbing hold of Stark’s hips and making several fast, deep thrusts until he was cumming deep inside the man below him.

 

Loki collapsed on top of Stark, taking a few moments while they both breathed heavily and then he pulled himself out, causing Stark to make a little grunt and then he flopped beside him.

 

They both lay there for several minutes, just riding out the waves of their orgasms, until Stark’s hand was on Loki’s chest and he was leaning over him, giving him a sloppy, exhausted grin. 

 

“Next time it’s my turn,” he said. 

 

“I’ve had my way with you,” said Loki, “what makes you think there’ll be a next time?”

 

Stark laughed and lent down, and they shared a long, lazy kiss, wrapping their arms around one another’s bodies, just enjoying the post-coital closeness for a while. 

 

Loki eventually sat up and gave Stark a little shove, “Ok, out,” he said, “I have to take a shower before I go on patrol, you can’t stay here.”

 

“Sure I can’t join you?” said Stark, sitting up and giving Loki a seductive look. 

 

“Definitely no,” said Loki, “both to the shower and patrolling, come on, get out.”

 

“Such a cock-tease,” said Stark and then he kissed Loki again before jumping off the bed and gathering his clothes. 

 

“Just wait until tomorrow,” said Loki, “then I’ll show you what a cock tease is.”

 

Stark gave him a somewhat worried look, but Loki couldn’t maintain the pretence and as he burst into laughter, Stark threw a balled up sock at his head. 

 

“Evil bastard,” he said, a grin spread on his face. 

 

“You have no idea,” said Loki.

 

 

 

 

x-x-x

 

((Special thanks for the fanart from [lokasennascribe](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lokasennascribe/pseuds/lokasennascribe) check it out here: [Shadow Fanart](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9297809?view_full_work=true)))

 

Bruce and Tony during their "sword" practise


	23. Chapter 23

 

****

** Chapter Twenty Three **

_Goddamn Bruce should quit the Avengers and open a detective agency._

 

“Are you alright?” he’d asked as Tony had gingerly sat himself on one of the workbench stools.

 

“Yeah I’m fine,” said Tony, “why?”

 

“I don’t know,” said Bruce, “you just look like you might have hurt your lower back or something.  You’re sitting really carefully and you keep wincing when you move about too much.”

 

“Oh,” said Tony, “had a little slip in the shower this morning, must have pulled something, though I didn’t even realise.  Must be getting old.”

 

“I could take a look for you-”

 

“NO,” said Tony, “no it’s fine.”  He really didn’t want Bruce seeing the finger shaped bruises he’d found on his hips that morning, he’d definitely have to have words with Puck about restraining that strength of his.

 

“Well you should be more careful,” said Bruce, “especially at your age, you could break a hip.”

 

“Oh, _ha_ _ha_.”

 

“Keep walking like John Wayne, and people will start getting the wrong idea about you,” said Bruce, and though he was smirking, Tony resolved that he was going to try and walk as normally as he could without wincing, even if it killed him.

 

Steve hadn’t stuck around for very long the previous day, but he had mentioned before he left something about a field test and Shadow, which had made Tony a little worried as he thought he’d been able to get them out of that. 

 

“So you and Shadow seem to be getting on,” said Bruce. 

 

“What do you mean?” said Tony.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Nothing,” said Bruce, “just he seems to be opening up to you that’s all.  Building a little rapport, he fixed up your leg for you…”

 

“Bruce, what the hell are you drivelling about?” said Tony, throwing a screwdriver down onto the work bench.  “I’m hearing subtext and I think it should rapidly become the text.”

 

Bruce groaned, “Fury wants both of them on the Heli for a field test,” he said somewhat sheepishly.

 

Inwardly Tony sighed with relief; outwardly he groaned and shook his head, “No, no, no, no, _no_.”

 

“Tony, Fury’s making me,” said Bruce.

 

“No,” said Tony, “no, we _promised_ them.  We told them if Puck stayed in the tower and we assessed him, we’d keep the big guys away.  The only reason he agreed to this in the first place was to keep his brother as far away from this stuff as possible, there is no way on Earth, Mars, Jupiter or even _Asgard_ , he’d going to agree to it.”

 

“You gotta find a way, Tony,” said Bruce, “it’s just a physical assessment, we wouldn’t be handing them over to SHIELD, I wouldn’t want them handing over to those guys, they’re both just trying to get along with their lives.”

 

“Tell Fury that they are not performing monkeys,” said Tony, “I’m not going to force them to do it, I’m not breaking my word.  Also, I think you should feel a little bit ashamed of yourself, Brucie-boy.  When did you become Fury’s flying butt monkey?”

 

“He’s kinda got me by the balls at the moment,” said Bruce, “after the whole Hulk smash in the middle of Manhatton thing.”

 

“How was that your fault?” said Tony, “What did he expect you to do, not respond?”

 

“Pretty much,” said Bruce, “he thinks Hulk should only come out for real emergencies, and so do I.  It was just, it was happening so close to the clinic I wasn’t thinking.”

 

“Bruce, if a robot attacking the city isn’t some sort of emergency, then I don’t know what is,” said Tony.  “Never mind forcing Puck and the Spider-baby onto the Helicarrier, I need to be negotiating you a better deal with Fury.  Daddy is going to sort this out, no one puts Brucie in the corner.”

 

“Can we please drop this for now?” said Bruce, “I’m not saying force the two of them, just talk to them.  You seem to get on with them a lot better than me, is what I’m saying.  Look, why don’t you go and talk to Puck now?”

 

‘ _Because if I go talk to him now, it might turn into sex and I’m not sure my ass could take it_ ,’ thought Tony.

 

“Go and at least ask him to consider it, give him time to think it over,” said Bruce, and he looked at Tony pleadingly.

 

Tony groaned, “When does Fury want the stupid field test?”

 

“Twelve days,” said Bruce.

 

“Ugh,” said Tony, standing slowly, trying not to wince, “you owe me big time, Bruce, and I’m going to sort this Fury thing.  It’s not right, man.”

 

“All right,” said Bruce, “thanks, Tony.  You always have my back.”

 

“That’s what having a billionaire boyfriend is for.”

 

x-x-x

 

Half an hour later, Tony was laying naked on Puck’s bed.  He was laying on his front, ass in the air, Puck hovering above him, tonguing his asshole.  A sensation he hadn’t been prepared for in either expectation or in how pleasurable it felt. 

 

“Poor baby,” said Puck, running his long fingers over his bruised hips gently, “this will make it all better.”

 

Tony moaned and tilted his head forward, resting it on his folded arms on the pillow, “Never thought this would feel so good.”

 

“Hmmm,” said Puck, “I clearly have a lot to teach you.”

 

As Puck tongued him, the soreness seemed to vanish from both his asshole and his hips, clearly there had been a little of Puck’s healing mojo brought into play, not that Tony minded at all. 

 

“Ok, turn over,” said Puck, patting his butt cheek playfully.

 

Tony rolled onto his back, it didn’t hurt him at all now.  Puck was still more or less fully dressed, the only item he’d removed was his hoodie.  Tony wanted to reach down, he wanted to dig his fingers underneath that cowl and feel Pucks hair, he wanted to rip the clothes off his body and spiral into full on fucking, but clearly other ideas where on the table because his cock was engulfed by a warm, wet mouth.  Tony’s head threw itself back, as he was swallowed to the hilt, and before long he was bucking his hips upwards and cumming down Puck’s throat. 

 

Tony thought he might come again when Puck withdrew his mouth, having swallowed Tony’s seed and then licking the corner of his mouth to catch an escaping dribble.  Just the sight of it had made Tony’s cock twitch. 

 

“Come ‘ere, you,” he said.

 

Puck lay on top of him, and they began kissing, after a little while, Puck sat up on the bed and tossed Tony’s underwear at him. 

 

“Banner will be wondering where you are,” he said, “you’re supposed to be working.”

 

Tony groaned, sitting up and putting his legs into his boxer shorts, “I only came down to ask you a question, I didn’t intend to get molested.”

 

“If you only wanted to ask a question you could have done so via Jarvis,” said Puck, “you clearly had other intentions on your mind.”

 

Tony stood in order to pull his underwear up and then step into his pants, pulling them up over the top.  “Look, SHIELD are on our backs,” he said with a sigh, “they want to see you guys in the field, both of you, they want to run a field simulation test.”

 

“No,” said Puck.

 

“I thought that would be your answer,” said Tony, zipping his pants and grabbing his vest, “I didn’t want to ask you, but Bruce begged me to ask you to at least consider it.”

 

“The answer will still be no,” said Puck.

 

“Would you be open to some kind of bribe?” said Tony, pulling his vest over his head. 

 

“I doubt there is anything you could give me that I wanted,” said Puck, standing and then pulling Tony into a kiss, which Tony smiled into, clearly their sex lives and their professional lives did not affect each other. 

 

“I could give you a lot of money?” suggested Tony, “enough to make sure you and your brother can set up a proper place, maybe pay for his college.”

 

“A generous bribe, but I’m not a whore,” said Puck, applying his lips to Tony’s neck and making little sucking kisses,

 

“I could, er, get my jet to fly you guys anywhere you wanted to go when this is over,” he said, “set up in a new city.”

 

“His life is here,” said Puck, nibbling on Tony’s earlobe and turning his brains into mush. 

 

“Well I’ve got infinite money and resources at my disposal,” said Tony, “there’s gotta be something…  fuck, what are you doing with your tongue?”

 

“There is something you could give us,” said Puck.

 

“Anything,” said Tony, leaning his head towards Puck as his tongue circled the shell of his ear. 

 

“Unrestricted access for both of us to your workshop,” said Puck.

 

Tony pulled back, “You want what now?”

 

“We both have equipment that is in constant need of repair,” said Puck, “you have tools and equipment we could use.  Fret not, we have no interest in your little tinkerings.”

 

“ _Tinkerings_?”

 

“Your suits,” said Puck, “whatever you call them.”

 

“Oh, boy, you are lucky your ass is so fucking perfect,” said Tony, shaking his head, “fucking _tinkerings_.  Alright, how about this?  In twelve days time, you come for the field test, after that, complete and free unrestricted access to the workshop.  Which can continue after your probation if you wish.”

 

“Is that little caveat at the end there in hopes of me returning after my probation?” said Puck, leaning towards him again, running his tongue along Tony’s neck, “Are you that attached to me already?”

 

“Part of the reason this is so fun is because of the time limit you imposed,” said Tony, leaning into Puck, his hips pressing up against his lovers. “When you say it’s over, it’s over, but what I’m saying is, you need to come back and repair something, the doors will be open for you.”

 

“Tempting,” said Puck, then he drew back and gave Tony’s ass a little slap, “I’ll think about it, now back to work you go, or Banner will come looking for you.”

 

x-x-x

 

“You took your time,” said Bruce as Tony re-entered the workshop, now walking normally thanks to Pucks little go at playing nurse maid. 

 

“Did I?” said Tony, “I was trying to talk the guy into something you were too chicken to even attempt, it wasn’t easy you know.”

 

“Well what did he say?” asked Bruce.

 

“He said he’d consider it,” said Tony, “and I had to offer him a big bribe too, so consider that the best answer you’re going to get for now.”

 

“Really?” said Bruce, “Well, to be honest I thought he’d shoot you straight down, so even getting him to consider it is a start.”

 

Tony sat himself on his stool by his workbench and picked up his favourite screwdriver, “Make any progress while I was gone?”

 

“Get real, Tony,” said Bruce, “we’re going to have to admit defeat, we suck, we’re never going to figure out where this stuff came from, there’s nothing, no special alloys, no signature circuitry, whoever built this was just as smart as us, and not as big headed as you.”

 

“ _Hey!_ ” said Tony, “Ok, you may have a point.  So what now?”

 

“Call SHIELD,” said Bruce, “tell them to come pick it all up, have their guys drive themselves crazy with it for a while.  Maybe there’ll be another attack soon and we’ll have something new to work with?”

 

“That’s the spirit,” said Tony. “always look on the bright side, Bruce, my old buddy, my old pal.”

 

“Tonight’s my last night of freedom before I have to start working the graveyard shift,” said Bruce, “this is my last night without any other commitments I’ll have to do in the meantime.  So, bros night?”

 

Tony actually found himself slightly torn, a bros night had been definitely on the cards for some time, and Bruce looked like he really needed one, but if he had bros night, it meant he couldn’t go back and see Puck before he went on patrol, and though Tony had really enjoyed the blow job he’d gotten, he had been looking forward to fucking Puck.  He chuckled to himself, it rhymed, then realisation struck, _that_ was why no names in the bed, Puck had probably been hearing that all his life. 

 

“Sure,” said Tony, “bros night, whatever you want to do, we’ll do.  Pizza and beer, Call of Duty, spy movie marathon, we could go to that place where they let you paint your own mugs, we could fly to Vegas, shoot some craps, your wish is my command.”

 

“Coney Island,” said Bruce.

 

“Coney Island, seriously?” said Tony. 

 

“You said my wish,” said Bruce, “I want corn dogs.”

 

“Vegas has strippers _and_ corn dogs,” said Tony.

 

“ _Tony_ ,” said Bruce.

 

“Ok, Bruce,” he said with a smile, “corn dogs and rides it is, and if you’re lucky I’ll win you a bear from one of the prize stands.”

 

“I’m holding you to that,” said Bruce.

 

x-x-x

 

 

They returned to the tower well after midnight, they’d stuffed themselves with corn dogs and candy floss, and gone on the rides.  Tony had dropped about three hundred dollars on one of the prize stalls in order to win all the bears he could get his hands on, including two absolutely huge ones which they’d have to sit on the back seat of the car and buckle in to stop them from moving around, piling the remaining bears in-between. 

 

Bruce had sat a stuffed penguin on his knee in the car which he’d claimed for himself, and Tony had picked a blue bear with a little wonky smile for his own, but they’d planned to drop the rest off at the children’s hospital the next day for the sick kids.

 

On the way back they pulled into a drive through for cheeseburgers which they ate in the car on the way back to the tower.  Tony left the car in the garage, with the bears still inside so he could just drive it out as was in the morning, and he bade Bruce goodnight as his best friend headed up to his own apartment, and Tony said he was going to clear a few things away in the work shop. 

 

He headed straight to floor 47 though, instead of the workshop, he found that Puck was out on patrol, as he expected, the window left open so he could get back in, and Tony left the little blue bear on the bed for him along with a note that read: ‘ _Sorry I couldn’t come back, had to have a bros night, see you tomorrow - Tony’_ then he debated for ten minutes on whether to put a kiss or not on the end of it, and in the end decided not to, because leaving the bear itself felt a bit, well, touchy feely.

 

 

 x-x-x

((I've only got about 3 or 4 more pics left that my friend did for the story, hope you like these.))

 

 

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

** Chapter Twenty Four **

 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” said Parker as they stood on a rooftop, overlooking the street, “There’s no way, no _way_ , we should be agreeing to this.”

 

“Full, _unrestricted_ access to the workshop,” said Loki, “we can get in there, we can get the tools we need and get this damned thing off me that’s blocking my magic and then we do not have to worry about me being caught anymore because I will be able to properly disguise myself.”

 

“It’s too risky,” said Parker, “you’ll be right in their hands.”

 

“I know, I agree with you, it’s extremely risky and if it all goes wrong, it’ll _really_ go wrong,” he said, “but if all we have to do is get through one field test without incident, then we’ve got a huge advantage.  We’ll be free, we won’t have to worry about _anything_ anymore.  I’ll have my full magic, I’ll be able to use disguises, I’ll be able to teleport, this is _it_ , Parker.”

 

“Loki, if you get caught, do you know what they’ll do to you?” said Parker, “if they can’t kill you, they’ll give it a really good try.”

 

“They won’t kill me,” said Loki, “they’ll lock me away in a little dark cell somewhere until my brother arrives to take me back to Asgard.”

 

“How do you know?” said Parker.

 

“Trust me,” said Loki, “Stark wouldn’t allow it.  He and Thor are warriors in arms, he knows that Earth would lose the Asgardian alliance if something were to happen to me.”

 

There was a long awkward silence between them, Loki knew that Parker was just contemplating what would happen to him, and his life and how it would be upended if he were to be discovered by SHIELD.  He was about to declare the entire thing a stupid idea when Parker squeezed his shoulder gently.

 

“ _Hey_ ,” said Parker, “when you can disguise yourself, we should totally go out to Coney island, as ourselves, sort of, spend a day out of our masks.”

 

“Technically I will still be masked,” said Loki.

 

“Yeah, but you can use your magic to cheat at all the prize games,” said Parker.

 

Loki smiled.  _Mischief_.

 

“There will be more than that,” he said, “so much more.”  He put his hand on Parkers shoulder, “When my magic is back to full I will show you just the kind of things I can do.  I can make duplicates of myself and send one to somewhere far away, so that the Avengers or my brother thinks that I am somewhere else entirely.  I can give myself a completely different face, and it’s not just myself I can change.  With my magic I could turn a cloud into a dragon, or turn a car into ice cream.”

 

“Really?” said Parker, “An entire car?”

 

Loki chuckled, “A fleet of cars.”

 

“Loki,” said Parker, “does that mean when you get your magic back, you’re going to stay?”

 

“Yes,” he said, nodding “if you want me to stay, I’ll stay.  Me and you together, if that’s what you want.”

 

“Of course, that’s what I want,” said Parker, “you’re my best friend.”

 

“You’re my best friend too,” said Loki.

 

Parker flung his arms around Loki and hugged him tightly, Loki had to give him a little tap on the back to get him to relax his hold and then he patted Parker on the head gently. 

 

“You’re a good boy, Parker,” he said. 

 

“Is that your way of telling me you love me?” asked Parker.

 

Loki laughed and patted his head again, “You’re a little shit, Parker, but I do hold a certain amount of emotional affection towards you, I cannot deny this.”

 

“Yeah,” said Parker, “love you too, Loki.”

 

x-x-x

 

When Loki arrived back in his room at the tower, he found a note from Stark and a fluffy children’s toy in the shape of a bear.  He picked it up, peering at it curiously, unsure as to what its purpose was, examining it from all sides.  As a child, he’d had rag doll warriors to play with, but he wasn’t sure what reason Stark would have to give him a child’s toy. 

 

He set it on the table beside his bed, and climbed onto his sheets, inhaling deeply of the pillows, as they smelled of sweat and sex and he found himself being drawn into fantasies of how many ways he and Stark could fuck one another before their time would come to an end.

 

When he slept Loki had feverish dreams, Stark writhing below him, one of his conjured duplicates taking Stark’s mouth, and no matter how hard he tried to cum, he couldn’t and he desperately wanted to hear Stark calling ‘Loki’ but he knew he wouldn’t, he knew he’d never. 

 

Loki woke with a start, he sat up in bed, realising it was early afternoon, and he had an erection that was so hard it hurt him.  He groaned and stumbled off the bed and into the shower in order to sort himself out.

 

Once he had finished and dressed himself, he went to the main Avengers floor to utilise the kitchen facilities, finding himself stopping dead in his tracks when he saw that Stark and Banner were sat around the meeting table, Rogers, Barton and Romanoff were with them. 

 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, backing out of the door. 

 

“No, wait,” said Stark, and Loki cursed him under his breath.  “These are the other Avengers you haven’t met yet, Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff.  Come join us, we’re having an informal meeting, while we’re signing promo shots for the kids, me and Bruce dropped off some toys at the children’s hospital this morning, but then all the kids were asking for autographs so we thought we should really rebuild our stock of signed pictures.”

 

“Just wanted some breakfast,” said Loki, again mumbling, “I’ll come back later.”

 

“Isn’t it a little late for breakfast?” said Barton, “actually I think it’s a little late for lunch.”

 

“He works all night,” said Banner, “this is early for him.”

 

“Come and join us,” said Rogers, “you can sign some of Thor’s pictures if you want, we always try to sign our own, but no one will know if you sign a few.”

 

_Fuck.  That._

 

“Um, no, thank you,” he said, “I’ll come back.”

 

He couldn’t have left the room faster if he’d tried.  He went to his own room and opened one of the drawers, there was a left over, half-stale sandwich from the previous day wrapped in foil, but he ate the entire thing and washed it down with tap water from the bathroom.  It wasn’t a perfect breakfast, but he’d lived on less and he’d certainly eaten worse. 

 

He sat down on his bed and decided to read more of his book, the harpooner believed he was dying by the time that Stark knocked on his door, and then entered without Loki having to get up and answer it. 

 

“Hi there,” said Stark, leaning against the wall, giving Loki an incredibly lustful look. 

 

“Are the other Avengers still in the building?” he asked, not putting his book down.

 

“Yes,” said Stark, “but I wasn’t planning on inviting them in.”

 

“If they’re still here, I’m not having sex with you,” said Loki, turning the page, not that he had finished that particular passage, but to show Stark he was not getting the attention.

 

“But,” said Stark, giving him the puppy dog eyes, “it was going to be my turn.”

 

“Don’t worry,” said Loki, “it’ll still be your turn tomorrow when they’ve gone.”

 

“But what if they stay for a few days?” said Stark.

 

“Then it’ll still be your turn in a few days,” said Loki. 

 

Stark walked over to the bed and straddled Loki’s lap, pulling the book down with one finger, “but we’ve only got so much time, and we had to skip yesterday because of bros night.”

 

“Rule number six,” said Loki, “there will only be sex if I am not surrounded by people, namely Avengers, who may burst in here at any moment.  Banner avoids me as much as I avoid him, so he doesn’t count.”

 

Stark snapped Loki’s book shut and lay it on the bedside table, much to Loki’s annoyance, then he lent over and began nibbling on a little bit of exposed skin on Loki’s neck. 

 

“Well we could leave the tower,” said Stark, “we could drive to a hotel.”

 

“Oh yes, because me and you driving in a car together wouldn’t look bizarre,” said Loki, “forget it, Stark, and stop licking me.”

 

“I could fly us in one of my suits,” he said, running his tongue upwards and kissing along Loki’s jaw line. 

 

“Because that’s _so_ less conspicuous than a car,” said Loki. 

 

“Well we could go up to the penthouse and do it in _my_ bed,” said Stark, “I need to give special clearance to get up there and only Bruce has that.”

 

He moved his mouth to try and go in for a kiss, but Loki placed a finger to Stark’s lips, “And, if memory serves, isn’t Banner’s apartment directly below yours?  Did you sound proof your floor?  Because at times you can become a little bit, how should I put this, _vocal_.”

 

“You’re killing me here, Puck,” said Stark, “you’re _really_ killing me.”

 

“There, there,” said Loki, tapping his cheek with his fingers, “I’m sure you know how to masturbate, that can see you through until they leave, now get off me and get out.”

 

“Are you seriously telling me you’d rather lay here and read Moby Dick, than let me fuck you?” said Stark.

 

“No,” said Loki, “I’d much rather be having sex right now, but not while the others are here.”

 

“So you’re saying if they were gone, we could have sex?” said Stark.

 

“Yes, but…”

 

“Challenge accepted!” said Stark, jumping off the bed and heading out of the door. 

 

Loki shook his head and picked up his book again and then flipped back and forth through the pages until he found his place and began reading. 

 

By the time Stark returned, the coffin had been constructed. 

 

“They’re all gone,” said Stark with a grin, shutting the bedroom door and pulling his vest over his head.

 

Loki closed his book himself so he could lay the paper book mark inside and placed it on his bedside table, next to the blue bear, whose purpose he still wasn’t sure of.  “Where are they?”

 

“I told Steve there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere, and I gave Barton and Tasha some new guns and told them to go play in the street,” said Stark, “does it matter?  They’re gone.”

 

“Well,” said Loki, sitting up and pulling off his hoodie, “I suppose that changes matters somewhat.”

 

Stark was completely naked by the time Loki had got to pulling his socks off, the man climbed onto the bed, unzipping Loki’s trousers and yanking them down his legs, taking his underwear with them and then covering Loki’s body with his own. 

 

“It’s not a race, Stark,” said Loki, “we do have time.”

 

“What was the rule about names in bed?” said Stark, “ _Puck_.”

 

“I apologise,” he said, “ _Tony_.”

 

“That’s better,” said Stark, pulling Loki towards him for a kiss, their bodies flush against one another, Loki hooked one of his legs around Stark’s, rubbing the back of his calf with his foot. 

 

Loki broke away from the kiss, trailing his fingers up and down Stark’s pleasing arms.  “You haven’t done this before, have you?  With a man?”

 

“Um, I believe that I did this with you just the other night,” said Stark, “or was it that forgettable?”

 

“You were the bottom,” said Loki, “what I mean is, you haven’t been the top with a man before.”

 

“Well I don’t need a step by step guide,” said Stark, getting defensive, “I do know how this works.”

 

“Of course you do,” said Loki, “I just want to offer some general advice.”  He reached over to the drawer and pulled out the bottle of lube, and handed it to Stark, “No matter what, you probably won’t be able to hurt me, my pain threshold is just higher than yours, that’s all, so don’t worry if I’m still tight when you start to fuck me, you can’t hurt me like that.”

 

“Anything else, Yoda?” asked Stark,

 

“It’s your preference,” said Loki, “but you may find it easier if you take me from behind the first time.”

 

Stark made a low kind of growling sound at that comment and began attacking Loki’s mouth and neck with hungry kisses and grinding their hips together. 

 

Soon Loki was lying on his front, arse tilted into the air, raised up slightly on his knees, Stark was giving the area a lot of attention, rubbing his hands over the cheeks, kissing and biting them, Loki rewarded his enthusiasm with a generous amount of moans. 

 

A slick finger began dabbing at his anus, then pushed itself inside, Loki sucked in a breath, he was tight and it had been a long time since he’d done this with a man, centuries in fact, not that he’d collected a huge string of lovers over the years, but he had slept with more women than men, and there had been few among the men who had been brave enough to penetrate a Prince of Asgard, something about the title tended to put them off the idea.  Stark would also probably be unwilling to penetrate a Prince of Asgard, but for _entirely_ different reasons. 

 

“Curl your finger a little,” said Loki, moaning as Stark did as instructed and hit just the right spot, “oh fuck, _yes_.”

 

“Hey, whose turn is this?” said Stark.

 

“If I’m the one being fucked, I want you to know exactly where my prostate is,” said Loki. 

 

A second finger entered him, he pushed back on them on reflex, Stark seemed to be enjoying taking his time stretching him, but Loki knew they had a limited amount of time for that. 

 

“ _Tony_ ,” he said, “either put another finger in me, or put your dick in me, but you’re not going to be able to make me as loose as a woman.”

 

Stark lent over him, pushing a third finger inside him, and whispering near to Loki’s ear, which the cowl covered, “Stop directing, I got this.”

 

Loki kept his mouth shut and let Stark continue what he was doing, finding he was not totally unskilled as his fingers moved back and forth inside him, bringing moans from his lips several times. 

 

The fingers withdrew and Loki propped himself up on his hands as Stark pushed himself inside Loki, both moaning at the act.  His rough, fingers took hold of Loki’s hips and he began pumping himself back and forth, Loki found himself moaning more and for longer periods, letting out ragged breaths as Stark picked up his speed and found his stride. 

 

Stark’s hands slid around Loki’s waist, pulling him up so his back was flush to the man’s chest.  It was a slightly awkward position, but Loki turned his head and brought one hand to the back of Stark’s hair, digging his fingers into it and pulling him into a deep kiss. 

 

They stayed locked like that for several minutes, kissing, Stark thrusting his hips upwards into Loki, then Stark had to pull back for air, but as he did he wrapped his fingers around Loki’s cock and began pumping him.  Loki tried to keep his balance through this, leaning back into Stark and letting him take a little of his weight. 

 

Stark bit into his shoulder and Loki let out a deep, guttural moan, pushing his hips back, causing Stark to nail his prostate and Loki began cumming over Stark’s hand, gripping his hair probably more tightly than he should have. 

 

Stark soon followed him over the edge, and then they collapsed onto the bed, Loki on his front, Stark lying on his back, cock still buried inside him.  They both took several minutes, just breathing heavily, then Stark began placing kisses over Loki’s shoulders and pulled out, flopping on the bed beside him.

 

Loki placed his finger on Stark’s chest, tracing a pattern around his nipple and then around his arc reactor, whilst Stark’s knuckles brushed back and forth on Loki’s shoulder. 

 

They lay like this for a while, just breathing, enjoying the afterglow. 

 

“I was impressed by your enthusiasm,” said Loki, looking at Stark’s face, “and your ability to get rid of your colleagues so quickly.”

 

“Yeah, I just lied about that,” said Stark.

 

“WHAT?!” said Loki, sitting up sharply.

 

Stark burst into a fit of laughter, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said, he raised his arms, beckoning Loki to come back, “they’re gone, I promise, come back down here.”

 

Loki grumbled for a moment, then lay back down in Stark’s arms, putting his head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating and the slight hum of the arc reactor.  “That was mean.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry,” said Stark, as he held Loki to his body.  “Did you like your bear?”

 

“I’m confused as to its purpose,” said Loki, his fingers idly tracing around Stark’s abs.  “Is it not a toy for children?”

 

“Yeah, sometimes kids play with them,” he said, “but sometimes adults also give them to other adults as a sign of affection.  Sometimes I swear, it’s like you were raised on another planet.”

 

“Obviously that would be impossible,” said Loki, tensing a little in Stark’s arms, “why would you say such a thing?”

 

“I’m teasing you again,” said Stark, “geez, you and Steve would _really_ get on.  I’m not letting you near him, I don’t know what his sexual preferences are.”

 

Loki chuckled a little at that, and closed his eyes, letting himself rest with Stark for a short while.  After half an hour had passed Loki pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the bed, grabbing his underwear, “It’s time for you to go,” he said. 

 

He heard Stark moan a little and then he shuffled and moved beside him, leaning over to grab his own clothes, “I’m not going to see you again, am I?” said Stark, slipping his legs into his trousers and standing to pull them on, “after your probation.”

 

“It’s unlikely,” said Loki, pulling on his own trousers, “but I told you this at the start.”

 

“I know,” said Stark, “but it doesn’t mean I won’t be a bit regretful when it ends.”

 

Loki picked up his t-shirt and pulled it on over his head, ignoring the cum on his stomach, “You said it yourself, Tony, part of the reason this is interesting for you is the time limit, and you’re right, if the time limit wasn’t in place, right now you’d be looking for a way of cutting and running, your exit route would be already planned.”

 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” said Stark.

 

“I don’t care,” said Loki, stepping towards him and giving him a quick kiss, “no feelings, remember?  Just sex, it’s ok to still be affectionate, but there’s no big future for us, Tony.  You don’t have to worry, I won’t be asking you for a commitment or any of the relationship matters that most lovers would eventually demand.  I know that there’s no future in this, it’s why I can allow it to continue.”

 

“I didn’t want to start an argument,” said Stark, “I know what this is, I knew what you were saying when we got into it, but I’m still allowed to be sad that it has to end.”

 

“Of course you are,” said Loki, “and I will be sad too, but end it must, and when it does, you’ll be able to move on, and I’m sure there will be a swarm of potential new lovers banging down the doors of Avengers tower to get to you.”

 

“Yeah, well,” said Stark, with a smirk, “at least I won’t be running away from them in the street, honestly teenage girls scare you?”

 

Loki groaned and covered his eyes with his hand, Stark had seen the video of him on the internet, “Oh _gods_ I hate technology.”

 

Stark laughed, “I only watched it like, six, seven dozen times,” he patted Loki’s shoulder, “now give us a kiss, and I’ll let you get ready for your patrolling, don’t want you facing teenagers with an intent to grab your butt, I’ve got the temporary lease on that thing.”

 

Loki shook his head, smiling in spite of himself, and then kissed him.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to know when new chapters are coming out, I do post little notices and fanarts on my tumblr which is bifrostedflakeart - I've had the flu hence the slow update.

** Chapter Twenty Five **

****

 

“Bruce,” said Tony, shaking his head at his friend as he sat on one of the stools at the eating counter on the main Avengers floor, “you look terrible, buddy.”

 

Bruce had his cheek pressed into his hand, on his third cup of coffee that morning, glasses askew, shirt crumpled and probably from the previous day, hair even more of a mess than usual. 

 

“These graveyard shifts are killing me,” said Bruce, “I can’t do this for six more months, I’m nearly 40, I need my sleep.”

 

Tony put his hand between Bruce’s shoulder blades, rubbing his back gently, “That’s it, you’re not going back,” he said. 

 

“Have to,” said Bruce, “Fury’s making me.”

 

“Fuck Fury,” said Tony, “ _I’ll_ pay the city for the property damage, for fuck’s sake, it’s only a couple of grand, I drop more than that on magazine subscriptions I don’t even read.”

 

“I already offered,” said Bruce, “I do have _some_ savings you know.”

 

“Well you’re not going back,” said Tony, “if you go back in this state, all that will happen if you’ll pass out, conk your head, Hulk will take over, and then the clinic will have a giant green dude attempting to figure out where to stick a stethoscope.”

 

Bruce chuckled a little, “Ok, you talk to Fury,” he said, “but don’t piss him off, we’ve got to see him on the Heli in a week.”

 

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” said Tony, he’d finally gotten Puck to change his ‘ _maybe’_ to a ‘ _yes_ ’, but he’d made it _very_ clear how unhappy he was about the situation. 

 

The previous night Tony had suggested using handcuffs on Puck, but his face, well, _chin_ , had turned green at the thought of it, and Tony had quickly changed tactics and suggested that Puck screw him hard against the wall, and the evening had gone splendidly well after that point onwards. 

 

“I’ll make all the calls,” said Tony, giving Bruce a hug from behind, “I can’t have my best Bruce like this, I need you.”

 

Bruce put his hand on Tony’s arm and sighed, “Thanks, Tony, I love you.”

 

Tony plonked a kiss on top of Bruce’s head with a smirk, “Love you too, Brucie.”

 

“What have I walked in on?” said a voice from behind them.

 

Tony turned his head, his cheeks turning a little red as he saw Puck standing in the doorway, a smirk showing from beneath his hood.

 

“I didn’t realise the two of you were that close,” said Puck, still smirking and walking across the room, heading for the kitchen counter, to presumably make himself some breakfast, “but I see now that I was wrong, don’t let me interrupt.”

 

Tony knew that Puck knew this was nothing more than affection between bros, and Puck knew that Tony knew that Puck knew this, so this could only mean that Puck was purposefully acting like this with the smirks and the insinuating comments, because he knew that Tony knew that he knew…  _Oh fuck it_!  He wasn’t going to go cross eyed thinking about it. 

 

Instead, Tony purposefully kept to hugging Bruce, watching Puck make himself tea and dropping some slices of bread in the toaster.  Tony noted that while Puck was looking as nonchalant as possible, he could tell that occasional glances were being sent in his direction.

 

“Want me to take you to bed?” said Tony, hugging Bruce tightly still, Bruce sighing, oblivious to raised eyebrow Tony knew he was getting from Puck.  “I’ll tuck you in, and then I’ll make everything better.”

 

“That sounds nice,” said Bruce, wistfully, patting Tony’s arms, “I miss sleep, we used to be such good friends, but I think I can put myself to bed.”

 

“Whatever you want, honey bunch,” said Tony, he released his hold on Bruce and the scientist got off his stool and waved at Tony as he got onto the elevator.

 

Tony watched Bruce leave, then suddenly felt a tall presence behind him, millimetres from his body, but not touching him.

 

“What that an attempt to make me jealous, Stark?” said Puck.

 

“Depends,” said Tony, turning, but keeping the close distance so as he looked up their faces were incredibly near to one another’s, “did it work?”

 

“I know that your relationship is fraternal and not of a sexual nature,” said Puck, “jealousy would be ridiculous.”

 

“Yeah,” said Tony with a smirk, “but were you jealous anyway?”

 

Tony got his answer in the form of Puck kissing him roughly and then shoving him against the kitchen counter, yanking his pants down and fucking him hot and hard from behind, whilst Tony’s fingers gripped the counter so firmly he thought he was going to break it.  Once Puck had spent himself inside Tony, he’s patted his behind, said ‘cheerio’ and casually strolled out, leaving Tony to practically collapse onto the floor and yank his pants up in case anyone found him in a post orgasm haze with cum dripping out of his ass and splattered all over his shirt.  He’d definitely have some ‘splaining to do. 

 

When he pulled himself together, he went up to the penthouse and cleaned himself up and changed into a fresh set of clothes and called Fury. 

 

Tony had fully intended the call to be professional and he had fully intended to kiss a little ass if need be, but it had quickly descended into shouting and arm flailing, but in the end Tony had ‘negotiated’ a freedom of sorts for Bruce.  Bruce would have to finish up the week, but Fury agreed to less hours seeing as how Hulk would make a very bad doctor, Tony would pay the city for the damage, and he’d pay the ECHO clinic enough to fund hiring a couple of doctors to work the graveyard shift and pay for proper facilities for them, then Bruce would be able to return to doing what he wanted to do.

 

x-x-x

 

Tony pulled the sunglasses off his face as he entered the trauma centre, Bruce would kill him if he found out what he was doing, and not in a Hulk smash way either, in some kind of mad scientist, rigging up incredibly inventive and saw-movie style death way. 

 

“Mr Stark,” said a pretty young lady, blonde hair scraped back into a loose bun, approaching him with an open hand, “I’m so glad that you contacted me.”

 

“Yes,” said Tony, taking her hand and shaking it, “you must be Sarah who I spoke to on the phone, please, call me Tony.”

 

“Yes,” she said, smiling warmly, “please, follow me, and I’ll give you a brief tour of our facilities.” 

 

Sarah took Tony on a tour, showing him group therapy rooms and private session rooms, a big room which a bunch of fold away cot beds, a little canteen, a couple of staff rooms, the building was well maintained, but everything in it looked like it was twenty years old and everything had been lovingly repaired more than a couple of times, she sat Tony down in a staff office, handing him a cup of coffee and making one for herself, the coffee was terrible, but Tony didn’t really feel like complaining. 

 

“So how many staff do you have working here?” said Tony. 

 

“Well we have three staff on our payroll,” said Sarah, “that’s all we can afford really in terms of qualified people, we could really use more fully qualified counsellors, as I’m an administrator, I find the money to keep the place up and running.  However we have a few dedicated volunteers, most of them are ex-clients themselves, they lend a positive ear for some of our clients to talk to, sometimes they help find accommodation in the city, we have beds for emergencies, but we can’t really operate as a shelter.”

 

“So you’re really working with a skeleton crew here?” said Tony, “You know, Bruce speaks very highly about this place.”

 

“Oh we were very sad to lose him,” said Sarah, “a lot of these guys have injuries and can’t afford a long term rehab facility, or they don’t have the insurance to see a doctor, or they’re too proud or stubborn to go to one of the free clinics, so he makes sure they’re all ticking over, patches them up, makes sure they don’t have infections, he’s a real saint.”

 

So _that’s_ what Bruce did here, mystery solved!

 

“So, Sarah, let’s talk numbers,” said Tony, “what does it take to keep this place going for a year?”

 

“A year?” she said, scratching the side of her head, doing the maths, “well, I’m not going to lie, Mr Stark, sorry, _Tony_ , it’s a lot of money, and we get some grants and public funding, but we rely a lot on donations.” 

 

She picked up a post it and scribbled a number down on it and handed it to Tony, it was a lot less than he’d thought, but then he factored in what it would cost to hire more staff, buy some new equipment, maybe give the place a lick of paint, he pulled out his cheque book.

 

“Ok, Sarah, I was just going to double it so you could get some new stuff, but fuck it,” said Tony and he wrote out the cheque and handed it to her, “here’s twelve million.”

 

And Sarah fainted in her chair.

 

“Uh…” said Tony, fanning her with the cheque, “oh dear.”

 

He folded the cheque up and slipped it into the top pocket of her blouse, and poked his head around the door, looking for someone who could have been another member of staff.

 

“Hey,” he shouted, “who works here?  Or volunteers here?  Someone in authority, please?”

 

A very short girl, no taller than five feet, pretty, with chestnut coloured hair and dark eyes, stood up and raised her hand, “I work here,” she said.

 

Tony was willing to bet another twelve million that was the girl Bruce had a crush on. 

 

Then a man appeared next to her, clearing well over six feet, well muscled, and with long blonde hair that was pulled into a long braid at the side of his head, which might have been an interesting enough appearance on its own, if you didn’t notice the black eye patch covering his right eye. 

 

“I work here too,” he said, in a British accent. 

 

Tony looked between the two of them, “You’re lovely, sweetheart, and don’t get the wrong idea here, I think I need the big guy,” and Tony beckoned his hand for him to come over to the office.

 

“What’s up?” the man asked as he entered, he saw Sarah slumped in her chair and quickly knelt beside her.  “What the hell did you do?”

 

“I gave her a cheque,” said Tony, shutting the door to the office, “most people don’t react like that.”

 

The man put his hands around Sarah’s face and tapped her cheek gently, “Sarah?  Come on, pet, time to wake up, there’s a good, lass.”

 

Sarah’s eyes fluttered and she stirred and rubbed her forehead, “Twelve million?”

 

“Twelve million?” said the man, turning his head to look at Tony.

 

“It’s in your pocket,” said Tony, patting his own chest at the spot. 

 

“I’ll go get you an ice pack to put on the back of your neck,” said the man, patting Sarah on the shoulder, “you, come with me.”

 

“Me?” said Tony, who then found himself being dragged out of the office. 

 

The man took him to a small medical room, as he began hunting through drawers, he turned his head, his single blue eye looking at Tony, “So what’s your game, sunshine?”

 

“I’m awesome at games,” said Tony, “Connect Four, Buckaroo, Scrabble, don’t play Monopoly though, fuck Monopoly.”

 

“I meant with the cheque,” said the man, finding one of those ice packs that you crack to activate, “and personally I like Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit.”

 

“There’s no game with the cheque,” said Tony, “I’m a friend of Bruce’s I just want to help out,” he stuck out his hand, “Tony Stark.”

 

The man took his hand and shook it, “Ladon,” he said, “Bruce, is Doctor Banner, right?  Nice little chap, never spoke to him myself, but the guys all talk about him nice enough.”

 

“Yeah, Doctor Bruce Banner,” said Tony, “I know he likes helping out here, and he doesn’t know I’m here because he’d kill me if he did know, but if Bruce thinks something is a good cause, then it’s a good cause.”

 

“Come with me,” said Ladon, “you can stand outside with me while I have a smoke.”

 

They took the ice pack back to Sarah, and she sat hunched over her desk, holding it to the back of her neck and staring at the cheque as if it might vanish any second.

 

Ladon led Tony out of the back door and they sat on the steps outside as Ladon lit a menthol cigarette, offering one to Tony, who shrugged and took one, he kept noticing the man rubbing his left knee unconsciously. 

 

“Look, sorry about the confrontation, mate,” said Ladon, “but sometimes we get guys coming down here, flashing their cash, and what they really want is to do experiments on vulnerable, desperate guys with PTSD, and they couldn’t give a toss about helping them get better.”

 

“Nah, it’s not like that,” said Tony, taking a drag on the cigarette, “I just want to help out.”

 

“Good man,” said Ladon, giving him a slap on the back, which was so hard it almost winded Tony.

 

“By the way,” he said, “what’s the name of that cute girl in the other room, the other one who works here?”

 

“Oh the brunette?” said Ladon, “Isn’t she just a gorgeous little mite?  That’s Bethany, been volunteering here a few months, had a brother with PTSD, wants to give something back.  You fancy her?”

 

“Oh, no,” said Tony, “not for me, I’m sorta seeing someone.”  He had no idea why he just said that to this total stranger.

 

Ladon took a drag on his cigarette, blowing out a long stream of smoke, “Well between you, me and the lamp posts, I think she has taken a fancy to your man, Doctor Banner.”

 

“Really?” said Tony, congratulating himself internally on his stellar detective work.

 

“Oh yeah,” said Ladon, “she was always fiddling with her hair when she knew he was coming down, and finding excuses to go talk to him, take him cups of coffee and all that lark.”

 

“Well that’s interesting information,” said Tony, now a bit mystified as to who the hell Bruce might have a crush on, as he’d said he’d never spoken to her.  “How many other people work here?  Regularly I mean.”

 

“Well there’s about ten of us regular volunteer counsellors,” said Ladon, “most of us are blokes, but there’s Bethany and this really nice middle aged lady called Madge who bakes a lot of cupcakes and brings them in for everyone.  There’s Sarah, the two qualified staff on payroll, er, that’s Bridget and Steve, and then we get a couple of volunteer doctors who come in and out, Doctor Lewis, Doctor Wendy, I think, and oh bugger, I can never remember his name, Doctor Oscar, something, Oswald, Oliver, I don’t remember, something beginning with O, at any road.”

 

Tony filed the information away, it left a couple of other candidates he hadn’t seen at least.  He’d get Bruce to go on a date this year at some point if it killed him. 

 

“Why’d you keep scratching your leg?” said Tony, unable to hold in his curiosity anymore.

 

“Was I?” said Ladon, “Shit, I’m not supposed to do that, thanks for telling me,” he held his cigarette between his lips and pulled up the leg of his pants and Tony saw that from the knee down it was made entirely of metal, a prosthetic.  “Just got it, still breaking it in, not supposed to scratch it, it irritates the skin.”

 

“Jesus,” said Tony, “what happened?  You in Iraq?”

 

“Sierra Leone,” said Ladon, rolling down the leg of his pants and taking another drag then flicking the ash on the ground, “long, painful story, that I don’t really want to get into if you don’t mind, but the short version is I lost the leg, and I lost the eye to shrapnel, and I lost my best friend at the same time, so all in all, it was not the most fun times I’d ever had.”

 

“Shit,” said Tony, “I’m sorry.”  He took a drag of his own cigarette and then pulled the collar of his t-shirt down and tapped his arc reactor, “I got shrapnel in my heart, this thing keeps me alive.”

 

“Really?” said Ladon, tapping it himself, “No shit?  That’s pretty cool.”

 

“Not as cool as an eye patch,” said Tony, letting his t-shirt spring back up and finishing his cigarette, crushing it on the ground. 

 

“Do you know how many people ask me if I need it or that I’m wearing it just to look cool?” said Ladon, shaking his head with a laugh, “between the leg and the eye I could get a job as one of those animatronics on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.”

 

“I know another guy with an eye patch,” said Tony, “a lot grumpier than you though, maybe the three of us should get together and start a shrapnel guy’s poker game.”

 

Ladon laughed at that, and stumped out the end of his own cigarette “That sounds fun, have your people hire me some people, and then call them, and we’ll do lunch.”

 

“Here,” said Tony, pulling out a card and handing it to him, “drop by the tower sometime, we’ll have a beer, and if this place ever needs anything, call me, I’m serious, I got the money.”

 

“Sure,” said Ladon and they both stood, “it’s a date.”

 

Tony seriously hoped that was a figure of speech because if he’d accidentally just made a date with this guy, then he wasn’t sure his ass could take the pounding Puck would give him afterwards.

 

 

 x-x-x

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My lovely artist who has drawn so many beautiful arts for me did all these wonderful draws. She does take comissions, I'll be adding the info on my tumblr (bifrostedflakeart) and my next update. 
> 
> Sidenote, the character introduced in this chapter is called Ladon, and if anyone calls him 'Landon' I will personally murder them.


End file.
